This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Multiuser Program (CRIF:MU), Professor Carol A. Fierke from the University of Michigan and colleagues Adam J. Matzger, John Montgomery, Vincent L. Pecoraro and Melanie S. Sanford will acquire a single crystal X-ray diffractometer with a strong copper source to obtain high-resolution structural information in diverse fields including synthetic organic chemistry, materials science and inorganic chemistry. This instrument will support education and research in complexes from metallacrowns producing soft materials; determination of absolute and relative stereochemistry of molecules important in catalytic reactions; in synthesis and characterization of biological properties of fluorinated proteins; in mechanistic studies of late metal complexes with high oxidation states; and in metal-organic frameworks.
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 a molecule relative to neighboring molecules. The studies described here will impact a number of areas, including chemistry, materials chemistry and biochemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.