With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Departmental Multi-User Instrumentation (CRIF:MU) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Rutgers University New Brunswick will acquire an X-ray diffractometer with CCD detector. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including studies on new multifunctional Lewis acids for applications in catalysis and materials chemistry, new electronically interesting oligomers and polymers, rigid organic linkers for electron injection in dye-sensitized solar cells, and enzymes as catalysts for the synthesis of chiral intermediates for pharmaceuticals. The new diffractometer will allow training a highly diverse student population in crystallographic methods at both the graduate (Ph.D.) and undergraduate levels. Efforts include development of a new module for an advanced undergraduate "Synthesis and Characterization" laboratory course to give students hands-on experience in structure determination. The X-ray diffractometer will also be used in established outreach programs at Rutgers-Newark (ACS SEED program and outreach to local high schools).
The X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and it provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules. Such structural studies have a large impact in a number of areas, especially in the synthesis of important organic and inorganic chemicals and in understanding chemical interactions in polymers and biomolecules.
