Organic luminescent materials with low-energy absorption and emission properties, especially those in the red-to-near-infrared (NIR) region are used as photodetectors and laser filters in optoelectronics and medical applications. However, synthesis of such materials with unique π-conjugation effect has rarely been reported. Incorporation of main group elements into aromatic systems has been established for decades to tune the electronic structures of organic materials. Those B/N-doped main-group compounds have particularly attracted considerable research interests due to notable contribution to the optoelectronic properties. New chiroptical materials with circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) have recently found numerous applications in photonics, smarting sensing and (bio) imaging as well as information technology. In pursuit of new main-group chemistry, this work will focus on the design, synthetic approach and characterization of B/N-doped macrocycles and CPL-active materials with emission in the red-to-NIR region and with the open-shell characters.

Pangkuan Chen has completed his PhD from Rutgers University with Prof. Frieder Jakle, and postdoctoral studies from MIT with Prof. Niels Holten-Andersen. He is the full professor of Beijing Institute of Technology School of Chemistry, and he also serves as the director of Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials. He has published more than 60 papers in reputed journals. His current research builds on organoborane chemistry, π-conjugated macrocycles, Near Infrared (NIR) circularly polarized luminescence, chiral radical chemistry and dynamic B/N Lewis pairs.