Chemical Bonding Across the Periodic Table, at High and Ambient Pressures

这个无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目的奖项支持康奈尔大学Roald Hoffman教授在量子力学和化学直觉之间建立桥梁的研究，特别是在高压化学结构领域。在研究的一部分，跨化学键的具体难题将被考虑。该提案提出了一个问题，那一组原子可以构建包含正方形平面和四面体几何元素的网络，以及苯环中是否有可能含有一个碘。另一个问题是，离子（而非分子）固体在多大程度上保持了对其组成构件的结构偏好的记忆。一项核心工作解决了化学在高压下结构的新兴领域中的作用，并建议设计一系列研究，以深入了解在五倍体积压缩下是什么决定了结构。其中一个重点是富氢材料，探索一种建议，即如果氢被“化学预压缩”，即捆绑在分子前体中，则可能在压力下实现更容易的金属化和超导性。在高压研究领域建立理论与实验之间、化学不同分支学科之间以及化学与物理之间的桥梁，将在诸如储氢等科学领域产生广泛的影响。这项工作还将通过致力于为普通观众写作和谈论科学，以及与艺术界人士交流，为整个社会、年轻科学家、艺术和人文领域的人士搭建桥梁。

This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research by Professor Roald Hoffman at Cornell University to build bridges between quantum mechanics and chemical intuition, particularly in the realm of high pressure chemical structures. In one part of the research, specific puzzles of bonding across chemistry will be considered. The proposal asks for what set of atoms could one build networks containing both square planar and tetrahedral element geometries, and whether it is possible to have an iodine in a benzene ring. Another question is to what extent does an ionic (not molecular) solid maintain a memory of the structural preferences of its component building blocks. A central effort addresses the role of chemistry in the burgeoning field of structure under high pressure and proposes to design a series of studies to gain insight into what determines structure under, say, five-fold volume compression. One focus is hydrogen-rich materials, exploring a suggestion that easier metallization and superconductivity under pressure might be achieved if hydrogen is "chemically precompressed," i.e tied up in a molecular precursor. Building bridges between theory and experiment, between different subdisciplines of chemistry, and between chemistry and physics in the field of high pressure studies is proposed to have a broad impact in science in areas such as hydrogen storage. The work would also build bridges to society at large, to young scientists, and to those in the arts and humanities through a commitment to writing and speaking of science for/to a general audience, and to communicating with people in the arts.