This three-year award for U.S.-France cooperative research in chemistry involves Eric A. Maatta of Kansas State University and Pierre Gouzerh of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie. They will collaborate on studies of polyoxometalate clusters, a diverse group of chemical compounds. Nitrogen substituted polyoxometalates will be synthesized and characterized using several different techniques: single-crystal X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry and polarography, IR, Raman and electronic spectroscopies, and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. The US investigator brings to this collaboration expertise in metal-imido chemistry. This is complemented by the French group's expertise and experience in characterizing polyoxometalates.
This award represents the US side of a joint proposal to the NSF and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). NSF will cover travel funds and living expenses for the US investigator and graduate and undergraduate students. CNRS will support the visits of French researchers to the United States. The collaboration will advance fundamental understanding of a new class of novel materials that have a role in catalysis, medicine and magnetics.
