Applications diamondoids

In general, nanotechnology MBBs are distinguished for their unique properties. They include, for example, graphite, fullerene molecules made of various numbers of carbon atoms (C60, C70, C76, C240, etc.), carbon nanotubes, nanowires, nanocrystals, amino acids, and diamondoids [97]. All these molecular building blocks are candidates for various applications in nanotechnology. 

The approach in crystal engineering is to learn from known crystalline structures of, for example, minerals in order to design compounds with desired properties. Crystal engineering is considered to be a key new technology with applications in pharmaceuticals, catalysis, and materials science. The structures of adamantane and other diamondoids have received considerable attention in crystal engineering due to their molecular stiffness, derivatization capabilities, and their six or more linking groups [114-117]. 

Adamantane can be used to construct peptidic scaffolding and synthesis of artificial proteins. It has been introduced into different types of synthetic peptidic macrocycles, which are useful tools in peptide chemistry and stereochemistry studies and have many other applications as well. Introduction of amino acid-functionalized adamantane to the DNA nanostmctures might lead to construction of DNA-adamantane-amino acid nanostmctures with desirable stiffness and integrity. Diamondoids can be employed to constmct molecular rods, cages, and containers and also for utilization in different methods of self-assembly. In fact, through the development of self-assembly approaches and utilization of diamondoids in these processes, it would be possible to design and constmct novel nanostmctures for effective and specific carriers for each dmg. 

G. A. Mansoori, T. F. George, G. Zhang, and L. Assoufid (eds.), Molecular Building Blocks for Nanotechnology From Diamondoids to Nanoscale Materials and Applications (Topics in Applied Physics Series), Springer-Verlag,New York, 2006. 

Today nanotechnology includes the synthesis, characterization, and application of a variety of nanostructured materials. Different carbon nanostrucmres exist simultaneously at the nanoscale, including carbon nanotubes, carbon onions, nanodiamond (ND), and diamondoids, all showing unique and novel properties [1]. 

The distributions and relative ratios of sesquiterpanes and diamondoids may also have potential applications in investigation of oil and refined product spills. Stout et al. compared the chromatographic distributions of bicyclic sesquiterpanes of two weathered diesel fuel samples... 

Adamantanes. 1 eq. boron triflate added to a stirred soln. of exo-e (io-trimethylene-norbornane in Freon-113 under argon at 0°, and stirring continued at 0° to room temp, for 30 min - adamantane. Y 98%. The method is generally applicable for the isomerization of 6 40+12 = 1-3) polycyclic precursors to diamondoid cage... 

As Nature offers diamondoids in large quantities from crude oil [4, 127], one ought to explore their chemistry especially in view of their potential applications in nanoelectronic devices [128]. The first challenge is to understand systematically the reactivity patterns of diamondoids, especially with respect to their selective peripheral C-H bond functionalization. This difficulty is emphasized when one considers that even triamantane (3) reacts with typical electrophiles (e.g., Br2) with very low selectivity [129]. What alternatives are there - will ionic, radical, and radical ionic C-H activation reactions eventually lead to higher C-H bond selectiv-ities These questions can, in part, be answered by computational methods when considering the very different stabilities of the cations, radicals, and radical cations of the respective diamondoids in the first step. These purely thermodynamic stabilities very often translate nicely into selectivities, at least for cationic structures. As this is often not the case for radicals, transition structures also have to be considered which makes the prediction of selectivities far more elaborate [130]. 

The unique structure of adamantane is reflected in its highly unusual physical and chemical properties, which can have many applications in nanotechnology, as do the diamond nanosized crystals, with a number of differences. The carbon skeleton of adamantane comprises a cage structure, which may be used for encapsulation of other compounds, such as drugs for drug delivery. Because of this, adamantane and other diamondoids are commonly known as cage hydrocarbons. In a broader sense they may be described as saturated, polycyclic, cagefike hydrocarbons. 

The importance of applications of diamondoids in nanotechnology is their potential role as MBBs. Diamondoids have noticeable electronic properties. In fact, they are //-terminated diamond and the only semiconductors that show a negative electron affinity [12]. 

Finally here is a partial list of known applications of diamondoids in nanotechnology and the related fields ... 

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