Sharvan Kumar

Education:

M.Sc. (2010): University of Allahabad, India
Ph.D. (2018): Jawaharlal Nehru University, India (Thesis Advisor: Prof. Pritam Mukhopadhyay)

Professional Experience
December 2023-Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
July 2023-December 2023: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India
November 2021- June 2023: Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, Germany (Advisor: Prof. Todd B. Marder)
November 2019- November 2021: JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, Kyoto University, Japan (Advisor: Prof. Shu Seki)
June 2018-September 2019: Research Associate, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India (Advisor: Prof. Nidhi Jain and Prof. Shalini Gupta)

The developments in optoelectronic and magnetic materials have revolutionized the modern information era. Though predicting the upcoming era is difficult, the current trend suggests that the next transformative technology will be flexible and wearable devices that will require next-generation materials with extraordinary optoelectronic, magnetic and conductivity properties.

Our research focuses on the design, synthesis and stabilization of ‘Molecular Organic Materials’ having such properties by employing strategic approaches involving supramolecular non-bonding interactions. We strive to prepare ambient stable open-shell and electron-deficient/rich π-conjugated organic compounds. This work also has significance in understanding the π-electron delocalization and aromaticity/antiaromaticity. Our research combines experimental and theoretical approaches and particularly uses absorption, emission and ESR spectroscopy and electrochemical studies in combination with DFT calculations. We are also involved in the design and synthesis of redox-active fluorophores for bio-imaging, sensing and photocatalysis applications.

• π-Conjugated Organic Materials
• Organic Open-Shell Materials
• Organic Magnetism and Conductivity
• Redox active Fluorophores

• Kumar, S.,* Koo, Y. H., Higashino, T., Matsuda, W., Ghosh, S., Tsutsui, Y., Suda, M., Imahori, H., Suzuki, K., Kaji H., Seki, S.* Truxenone Triimide: 2-Dimentional Molecular Arrangements of Triangular Molecules for Air Stable n-type Semiconductors. Electron. Mater. 2022, 2101390.
• Kumar, S.,* Yoshida, K., Hattori, Y., Higashino, T., Imahori, H., Seki, S.* Facile Synthesis of Ambient Stable Pyreno[4,5-b]pyrrole Monoanion and Pyreno[4,5-b:9,10-b’]dipyrrole Dianion: From Serendipity to Design. Sci. 2022, 13, 1594-1599.
• Kumar, S., Ajayakumar, M. R., Hundal, G., Mukhopadhyay, P.* Extraordinary Stability of Naphthalenediimide Radical Ion and Its Ultra-Electron-Deficient Precursor: Strategic Role of the Phosphonium Group. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 12004-12010.
• Kumar, S., Shukla, J., Mandal, K., Kumar, Y., Prakash, R., Ram, P., Mukhopadhyay, P.* Doubly-Zwitterionic, Di-reduced, Highly Electron-Rich Air-Stable Naphthalenediimides: Redox-Switchable Islands of Aromatic-Antiaromatic States. Sci. 2019, 10, 6482-6493.
• Kumar, S., Mukhopadhyay, P.* Ambient Stable Naphthalenediimide Radical Ions: Synthesis by Solvent-free, Sonication, Mechanical Grinding or Milling Protocols. Green Chem., 2018, 20, 4620-4628.
• Kumar, Y., Kumar, S., Mandal, K., Mukhopadhyay, P.* Isolation of Tetracyano-Naphthalenediimide and its Planar Radical Anion. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 57, 16318-16322.