9407895 Kiserow This research combines experimental and theoretical methods to investigate the electronic and molecular structure, the optical properties, and photochemical degradation of elementary building blocks based on linear chains of silicon atoms. The primary issues to be addressed are (1) the relation between chain conformation and spectroscopic properties, particularly electronic and vibrational spectra; (2) the nature of the low-lying electronic states and the associated photophysical properties as a function of chain length and conformation; (3) the relative stability of individual chain conformers and the real-time dynamics of conformer interconversion; and (4) the nature of the photochemical reactivity of the chains. The information obtained for the simple models containing 3 - 30 silicon atoms will then be combined with the results of measurements on high-molecular weight polymers and utilized to provide a comprehensive picture of their optical and photochemical properties. This is a grant to Professor Josef Michl of the University of Colorado at Boulder, jointly funded with the Army Research Office. ***
