This Research Opportunities for Women Career Advancement Award is in the general area of physical chemistry. Dr. Amy E. Miller of the University of Oklahoma will study the intrinsic acidity of organometallic hydrides in the gas phase by determining enthalpies of dissociation into free metal anions and free protons. Construction of a flowing afterglow ion-molecule reactor to determine the kinetics of protron abstraction from neutral acids by metal anions is central to the project. Compounds containing trifluorophosphine ligands, expected to be "superacids", will be among those synthesized and tested. A postdoctoral associate with participate in the program, which will enable Dr. Miller to expand her laboratory to include an instrumental component in addition to the synthesis capabilities already in place.
