This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program will help the Department of Chemistry at Indiana - Purdue University at Ft. Wayne purchase laser equipment. This equipment will be used in the following research activities: photochemistry and photophysics of copper (I) complexes in solution, photophysical studies of polynuclear ruthenium (II) complexes, catalysis of the autoxidation of sulfur dioxide using ?Ni(III) (cyclam)!: elucidation of a novel mechanism, and generation and observation of heteroacenaphthene ylides via 8-substituted 1-naphthyl carbenes: halonium ylides. Lasers emit a narrow beam of coherent, powerful and nearly monochromatic electromagnetic radiation. This radiation will allow the researchers to generate short-lived chemical intermediates in photoactive systems in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions. The kinetic spectrometer part of the system will permit the operators to measure the optical emission or absorbance of these intermediates, as a function of time. Lasers are used in chemistry to study a broad range of subjects, from the dynamics of proteins and nucleic acids to photoelectron transfer processes, and from interfacial chemistry to picosecond pulse shaping. Lasers are also useful in optics, communications, and engineering.
