This project in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic program is concerned with chemistry of 4d and 5d metal porphyrin and tetraazaporphyrin complexes. Specific areas to be considered are multiple metal-metal bonded dimers (including heterometallic bonds), mesodiscotic liquid crystals (and possibly ferroelectric fibers), and electrochemical catalysts for multielectron redox reactions of molecular hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and ammonia. %%% This research is intended to produce a set of new and unusual substances whose physical and chemical properties will add to our fundamental understanding of the structures and reactivities of the heavy transition elements and the mechanisms of mysterious multi-electron redox processes, such as nitrogen fixation, that are catalyzed by metalloenzymes. Unusual catalysts and liquid crystalline materials may result from this highly interdisciplinary research.
