Further research on the preparation and properties of fluorine compounds is important because the presence of one or more fluorine atoms or fluorinated groups in molecules has a marked effect on the chemical and physical properties as well as on the biological activity of these materials. The substitution of fluorine for other atoms in a compound often leads to profound increases in resistance to thermal degradation or decomposition in water. These drastic differences in properties are seen in comparing polyethylene, which does not contain fluorine, to teflon, which does contain fluorine. The research will involve the syntheses and characterization of a wide variety of fluorine-containing nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus compounds in an effort to either modify characteristics of previously known compounds or to develop entirely new families of compounds that may have many applications, e.g., as thermally and hydrolytically stable polymers, as plant growth inhibitors, as muscle relaxants, or as anticonvulsants, in addition to providing much useful basic information when fluorinated and nonfluorinated analogs are studied concurrently. This study will provide other researchers with information about thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities, properties, structures and bonding as well as methods of synthesis of a diverse collection of compound types. All new materials will be characterized via infrared, Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectra and elemental analyses. Many will be submitted for biological testing and some for structural studies.
