CAREER: Octahedral Hexanuclear Clusters: Fundamental Studies and Inquiry Into Potential Applications

该职业奖由无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目颁发，支持伊利诺伊州立大学Lisa Szczepura博士对六核八面体钼团簇配合物的基础研究。这些研究的目的是探讨这些配合物的两个基本的重要反应，配体取代和还原氧化。了解所提出的水团簇配合物的氧化还原化学可能导致新的氧化剂的发现。此外，预测取代趋势和生成连接的六核团簇配合物的能力将使基于具有刚性间隔单元的六核钼单元的新固体的制备成为可能，这应该为分子或离子提供插入和脱插的空间。总的来说，这些数据对于这些簇络合物在催化和材料化学等应用中的未来使用至关重要。这个项目的教育部分包括培训和指导妇女和代表性不足的少数民族。PI建议运行与一般化学序列平行的浓缩讲习班；这些讲习班将提供给伊利诺伊州路易斯斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟（ILSAMP）成员的学生。来自代表性不足群体的学生将从这些讲习班以及其他班级中招募，在PI的实验室进行本科研究。通过向研究生和本科生提供经济支持，PI希望提供一个学习和指导处于最前沿的环境。从这些代表性不足的群体中增加化学毕业生的数量，对于增加化学领域的多样性和培养能够解决社会面临的复杂科学问题的劳动力至关重要。

This CAREER award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research by Dr. Lisa Szczepura at Illinois State University on fundamental studies of hexanuclear octahedral molybdenum cluster complexes. The studies are aimed at probing two fundamentally important reactions of these complexes, ligand substitution and reduction-oxidation. An understanding the redox chemistry of the proposed aqua cluster complexes is likely to lead to the discovery of novel oxidants. In addition, the ability to predict substitution trends and generate linked hexanuclear cluster complexes together will enable the preparation of new solids based on the hexanuclear molybdenum unit with rigid spacer units which should provide room for molecules or ions to intercalate and deintercalate. Overall, these data are crucial to the future use of these cluster complexes in applications such as catalysis and materials chemistry. The educational component of this project involves the training and mentoring of women and underrepresented minorities. The PI proposes to run enrichment workshops that parallel the general chemistry sequence; these workshops will be available to students who are members of the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ILSAMP). Students from underrepresented groups will be recruited from these workshops as well as from other classes to conduct undergraduate research in the PI's laboratory. By providing financial support to graduate and undergraduate students, the PI hopes to provide an environment where learning and mentoring are at the forefront. Increasing the number of chemistry graduates from such underrepresented groups is crucial to increasing diversity in the field of chemistry and in generating a workforce that is capable of solving the complex scientific problems facing society.