With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Multiuser Program (CRIF:MU), Professor Jacob W. Petrich and colleague Arkady Ellern from Iowa State University will upgrade and cyber-enable an X-ray CCD diffractometer. This instrument will support research by a large number of users that include chemistry professors Verkade, Sadow, Jeffries-EL, Bakac, and Fang as well as the broader Iowa State University research community. Research will include stereoselective transformations to develop new catalytic reactions useful in syntheses ranging from petrochemical through commodity and fine chemicals to pharmaceuticals, molecular magnetic materials and molecule based magnetism, new pi-conjugated organic materials, studies of chromium(V) which promise to shed light on the reduction process of chromate in chemical and biological systems and improved catalytic processes, including those used for the production of value-added products from soybean oil.
An X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules. The studies described here will impact a number of areas, including chemistry, materials chemistry, biochemistry and agricultural chemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.
