RUI: Structural Characterization of Ionic and Radical Complexes by High Resolution Spectroscopy

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In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professors Sean and Rebecca Peebles of Eastern Illinois University, together with their graduate and undergraduate student researchers, will investigate the structure and interactions in gas-phase complexes exhibiting C-H hydrogen bonds. These species will be studied with infrared and microwave spectroscopic methods, coupled with computational chemistry work. The goal of these studies is to determine the strengths of interaction in C-H hydrogen bonding systems -- an interaction that has importance in biochemistry, but remains poorly-understood.Interactions between molecules are of fundamental importance in understanding the way condensed phase matter behaves -- from the interactions which govern the way molecules in a liquid or solid attract one another and give rise to physical properties to the ways in which proteins interact to produce molecular machines. Research like that of the Peebles aims to tease out what these interactions are, and what there strengths are. The graduate and undergraduate students working on these projects will acquire hands-on experience in building sophisticated spectroscopic apparatus, acquiring, analyzing and interpreting data, which they will present at national and regional conferences.