This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities Program will assist the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois in the purchase of a modern single-crystal diffraction system. This new instrumentation will enhance greatly research in a number of areas, including the following: (1) The Structure of Reactive Intermediates of Synthetic Utility; (2) Homogeneous Models of Ziegler-Natta Catalysts; (3) Structural Studies on Metal Sulfides; and (4) Rationally Designed Channel Clathrates. The X-ray diffractometer is used to make accurate and precise measurements of the full three- dimensional structure of a molecule. The information obtained gives the precise values of all the bond distances and bond angles of a given molecule and it gives accurate information about the spatial arrangement of that molecule relative to the neighboring molecules.
