I'm currently at the proof-of-concept stage. Optimization and further development will come later. A successful proof-of-concept now, followed with a bit of optimization, will allow me to apply for a multi-year ~$250,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in September 2016.

In order to confirm that I've synthesized my desired compounds, I need to rent NMR time.

Here are 9 of over 20 chemicals I will use:
1,4-DIMETHOXYBENZENE $68
1,3,5-TRIMETHOXYBENZENE $94
P-ANISIDINE $27
DI-TERT-BUTYL DICARBONATE $48
Anhydrous NICKEL(II) CHLORIDE $157
BIS(TRICYCLOHEXYLPHOSPHINE)NICKEL(II) $42
1,3-DICYCLOHEXYLIMIDAZOLIUM CHLORIDE $154
Anhydrous N,N-DIMETHYLFORMAMIDE $55
PHOSPHORUS (V) OXYCHLORIDE $41
Shipping and handling $230

Additional Information

I'm always looking for ways to do things better, and this project is no exception. From talking with people in the cannabis industry, it is clear that they need powerful chromatography tools to purify their extracts, but like many academic researchers most can't afford state-of-the-art chromatography equipment (UHPLCs run $100,000-$150,000, and industrial scale systems can run into the millions of dollars). So I started thinking about how to make high performance chromatography materials that were affordable, more stable than what is currently on the market, and could be used in low pressure systems.

Chromatography is a powerful tool for separating complex mixtures of compounds, and uses much less energy then distillation. The ideal chromatography material has the following properties:

1: Chemically inert - that way it will not react with the compounds one is trying to purify, and it won't degrade with use.

2: High surface area to volume ratio - the higher this ratio, the better the separation.

3: Very porous - more porous the material, the more easily solutions can pass through it (high flow rates, low pressure), which allows one to use less expensive equipment to purify compounds.

4: "Goldilocks" pore size - smaller the pore sizes results in better interaction between the material and the compounds being purified, but if the pores are too small the compounds can't enter the pores. Smaller pore sizes also requires higher pressures to force solutions through the material.

5: Rigid - if the material swells or shrinks upon changing solvents then the pore sizes change reducing the material's ability to separate compounds.

Dendrimeric polyphenylenes meet all of these requirements. Unlike silica, alumina, or zirconium based chromatography materials, polyphenylenes are completely inert to both acids and bases. Linear polyphenylenes are very rigid, with the smallest backbone diameter possible for any chromatographic material, allowing for the maximum surface area to volume ratio. Like the branches of trees, dendrimers have a lot of open spaces (pores). By controlling the length of branches (the linear polyphenylenes), one can tailor the pore sizes within the dendrimers. Since these dendrimers are rigid, they don't swell.