This award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program and the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program will enable the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University to acquire a CCD-based X-ray diffractometer. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including (1) investigations of the organometallic chemistry of carbon dioxide and its incorporation into catalytic processes leading to useful chemicals; (2) structural characterization of large cluster compounds; and (3) structural studies of novel, biologically active natural products. 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 the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules.
