With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) programs, the University of California Davis will acquire an X-ray diffractometer with a sensitive detector. In general, an X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three-dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of a molecule relative to neighboring molecules. The studies described here will impact a number of areas, including organic and inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, energy research and biochemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research and research training of chemistry graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows. An outreach center will be created to enable education and research institutions to collect diffraction data and provide help with crystal structure determination, at minimal cost. Annual crystallography workshops will be used to educate potential users and assess the effectiveness of the Center through user feedback.
The award is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) controlling the electronic structures of metal complexes to enable catalytic transformations utilizing earth abundant metal complexes with unpaired electrons to convert carbon dioxide and nitrogen into useful chemicals; (b) investigating fullerene chemistry and intra- and inter-molecular bonding interactions in fullerenes; (c) understanding the magnetic behavior of low coordinate transition metal complexes that can exhibit strong spin-orbit coupling and high zero-field splitting; (d) developing superconductors and magnetic materials based on layered and chained Fe-Se structures; (e) designing thermoelectric materials capable of converting waste heat into useful electric energy utilizing complex inorganic solids; and (f) studying the chemistry of concave, hemispherical, or completely closed shell bodies, self-organized molecular systems, and dopants for electroactive polymers.
