This U.S.-Hungarian research project between Tamas Baer of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Balint Sztaray and Laszlo Szepes of Eotvos University, Budapest, will study the dissociation energies and dynamics of energy-selected ions. They intend to determine accurate ionization and dissociation energies with techniques using threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence (TPEPICO) mass spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy. By combining solution and gas phase bond energies the team expects to learn about solvation energies.
The Budapest group will contribute expertise in the synthesis and reactions of organometallic complexes as well as in measuring photoelectron spectra of low vapor pressure samples. The Chapel Hill group's expertise in TPEPICO will be employed to determine dissociation limits for metal ligands. Results should produce new accurate data on the heats of formation and bond energies. This would enhance our ability to develop models and apply statistical theory of unimolecular decay to a broad range of complex molecules. Success could help define catalytic properties of molecules with applicability in a variety of synthetic approaches.
This chemistry project fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence. Broader impacts include the introduction of U.S. students to the international research community through work at the Hungarian institution and direct involvement in current thermochemical research and application of spectroscopy techniques.
