The technique of X-ray crystallography is a powerful tool for the determination of the molecular structure of compounds as diverse as small polypeptides and complex metal clusters. When combined with the latest computer software, the technique is becoming remarkably fast and easy to put into practice. The acquisition of X-ray crystallographic instrumentation markedly improves the ability of chemists to carry out frontier research. The Department of Chemistry of the University of California, Davis will use this award from the Chemistry Shared Instrumentation Program to help acquire instrumentation for X-ray crystal structure determination. The areas of chemistry that will be enhanced by the acquisition include the following: 1) Studies of transition metal complexes 2) Development of crystallographic methods 3) Synthetic chemistry, immunochemistry and plant biosynthesis 4) Synthesis, structure and coordination properties of bidentate mesocycles 5) Synthesis and structural characterization of sigma-bonded transition metal compounds with low oxidation states or coordination numbers 6) Synthetic organic chemistry, mechanistic and synthetic organometallic chemistry
