CAREER: Photolysis of Alkylazides in Solution and in Crystals

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With this CAREER award the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Dr. Anna D. Gudmundsdottir in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. The research involves forming, detecting, and investigating the reactivity of alkyl nitrene intermediates in solution and in the solid state, emphasizing triplet nitrenes formed in the photolysis of alkyl azides. The azides to be studied, using a combination of vis/uv and IR spectroscopies and product analysis, include azidoacetophenone, beta-, gamma-, and delta-azidoarylketones, benzyl azide, and fluorinated 2-azidoethyl benzene.Dr. Gudmundsdottir proposes to study the spectroscopic properties and reactivity of a class of highly reactive organic molecules which contain a saturated carbon atom bound to an unsaturated nitrogen atom. These nitrenes will be generated in solution or in crystalline solids using laser flash photolysis, and may contain two electrons with parallel or antiparallel spins (triplet or singlet electronic states), often leading to different products. Better understanding of these reactions in the solid state is expected to lead to better design of organic crystals for new materials. Possible applications include photolithography, photoaffinity labels for biological molecules, and organic magnets. Students will learn both from carrying out the research and by participating in a seminar course where they will be exposed to a number of successful scientists, including representatives from industry and from underrepresented minorities. The seminars will help the students decide what career paths to follow once they leave the University of Cincinnati.