9726311 Lisy This award supports a two year collaborative research project between Professor James Lisy of the University of Illinois in Chicago and Professor Tamotsu Kondow of the Toyota Technological Institute in Chiba, Japan. The researchers will undertake a study on cluster structure, motion and reaction dynamics. They plan to characterize the physical and chemical properties of a variety of small molecular aggregates, or clusters, of known size and composition. The project capitalizes on the spectroscopic techniques developed at Illinois, with the chemical reaction dynamics methods from Japan, and would be extremely useful in a systematic study of structure-reactivity correlations. An important area of investigation involves the study of molecules adsorbed on transition metal cluster ions, a model for fundamentally and technologically significant catalytic processes. The project brings together the efforts of two major laboratories that have constituted different parts of the process. The Americans have expertise in infrared studies of a wide variety of gas-phase, mass-selected, solvated metal ions, and are interested in extending the spectroscopic studies of solvated cluster ions to include more complex metal ions such as transition metals. Japanese expertise is in the area of metal cluster ion production and they plan to develop a continuous source of transition metal ion and cluster ions over the next two years. Techniques developed between the two groups should enhance the likelihood of obtaining significant new results, over isolated investigations by either group. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation. ***
