ChevronTexaco scientists have figured out how to turn condensate into nanometer-sized diamondoids.
For many years diamonds have been used on drill bits to reach oil and gas reserves, but nobody ever dreamed those reserves could be used to manufacture microscopic diamonds - until now. It just may turn out that oil is a girl's best friend.
Researchers at ChevronTexaco's Energy Research and Technology Co. in Richmond, Calif., have discovered a new class of molecular building blocks called higher diamondoids. These nanometer-sized carbon-based materials are found in petroleum and are potentially instrumental to advancing the field of nanotechnology.
Diamondoids are diamond molecules with the same internal structure as diamonds. Higher diamondoids begin with tetramantane, which has four crystal cages of the diamond lattice. ChevronTexaco researchers have produced higher diamondoids up to undecamantane (11 crystal cages), which is a diamond with a weight of less than a billionth of a billionth of a carat. Lower diamondoids have been isolated by others, but only ChevronTexaco has been able to isolate higher diamondoids.
According to Gary Masada, president of ChevronTexaco Energy Research and Technology Co., "Scientists have in the past recognized the need for the desirable properties of diamond-like building block molecules. Diamondoids are the only molecules to combine the useful properties of a diamond with the versatile chemistry of carbon-based molecules. Diamondoid molecules possess superb characteristics for nanotechnology: rigidity, durability, multiple shapes and sizes, and potential for precise self-assembly."
Nanotechnology now
Nanotechnology is a rapidly evolving field focused on characterizing materials and creating structures, devices and systems that have superior properties, building them at the molecular scale. It is recognized as a key technology area that is being funded at a rate of more than US $2 billion by United States and international governments, with additional significant efforts from industry.
Many higher diamondoids have chiral shapes (left- and right-handedness) whose specificity is important for pharmaceuticals (Figure 1). Additionally, higher diamondoids can be polymerized to create specialty materials and can be derivatized to modify their electronic and other properties.
"These building blocks offer untapped potential for significant advances in the fast-growing area of nanotechnology," said Greg Vesey, president of ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures. "We are pleased to have found these potentially valuable materials in petroleum and want to actively encourage research and development on higher diamondoids and their applications."
Reflecting the commercial potential of this promising new technology, ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures announced that it has formed MolecularDiamond Technologies, a new business unit, which will make small quantities of proprietary higher diamondoid materials commercially available for research and development in mid-2003. MolecularDiamond Technologies will be located in Richmond, Calif., and will be headed by Dr. Waqar Qureshi, whose previous experience includes research and development, technology marketing and venture capital investing.
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