This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program Professor Gregory J. Grant and colleagues Jisook Kim and Kyle Knight from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga will acquire an automated benchtop X-ray diffractometer. The instrument will be used to support research activities such as: 1) transition metal mediated self-assembly of molecular squares and hexagons using thiacrown ligands, 2) organometallic catalysis of stereoselective organic reactions, and 3) study of reduction methods in organic synthesis.
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 but not limited to chemistry and materials chemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.
(UTC) to purchase a benchtop single crystal X-ray diffractometer. This instrument provides the most unambiguous method of the determination of molecular structure in the solid state. The instrument was installed in December, 2010. The Department is exclusively involved with the education of undergraduate students. The Department has now incorporated this instrument into two upper-level teaching laboratories (advanced inorganic chemistry, advanced organic chemistry) as well as its research program. The presence of the instrument resulted in additional curriculum topics in these two courses and an increased emphasis on the technique throughout the Department. Four research groups, including their students, have utilized the instrument during the past two and a half years. Approximately twelve of these students have used in the instrument in a "hands-on" fashion. Their research results have been documented in four publications with student co-authors along with ten presentations (five by the students themselves) at professional chemistry meetings. The presence of this instrument has helped UTC to train future scientists and citizens for the new technology work force of the 21st Century. Our Department's goals include providing our undergraduate chemistry students with access to contemporary chemical instrumentation and quality research experiences. The project has been an important component in achieving these goals, and the instrument has now been integrated into teaching and research activities within the Department.
