With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multi User program (CRIF:MU), the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) will acquire a Cu-tube-based CCD-X-ray diffractometer with low temperature capabilities. It will be utilized in research projects including 1) charge transfer in inorganic mixed valence complexes, 2) patterned organic electron donor/acceptor nanostructures, 3) molecular nanomagnets, 4) supramolecular structures anti-infectives, 5) symmetry of hydrogen bonds, 6) novel fluorescent nucleoside analogues, and 7) marine natural products chemistry. The new Cu source X-ray diffractometer will be housed in the UCSD X-ray Crystallography Laboratory along with a Mo source diffractometer and an obsolete diffractometer.
The technique of single-crystal X-ray crystallography allows accurate and precise determination of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and it provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules. These studies will have an impact in a number of areas, especially synthetic chemistry.
