Physical and Photophysical Properties of Spin-Polarized Molecules

这一无机化学、生物无机化学和金属有机化学项目的研究奖支持了密歇根州立大学的詹姆斯·K·麦卡斯克教授研究自旋和自旋极化对分子物理和光物理性质的影响的工作。具体地说，这项研究的重点是设计和开发化学系统，该系统将探索分子的物理/光物理性质与其固有的自旋性质之间是否存在因果关系，如果存在，可以在多大程度上利用这种联系来操纵分子的化学反应活性。这些努力包括应用各种光谱测量(包括稳态和时间分辨)，这些测量将在基本水平上确定零场自旋极化对分子基态和激发态性质的热力学和动力学影响。此外，该计划将通过一系列实验来探索自旋极化和化学反应性之间的联系，这些实验将探索自旋对能量转移的影响，电子通过单个自旋耦合分子的转移，以及通过分子桥的极化转移。这项研究的性质是跨学科的；参与这个项目的学生(本科生、研究生和博士后)将在合成化学、最先进的光谱方法、磁学和理论方面接受广泛的培训，同时从事与分子电子学、磁学、光化学和催化等不同领域相关的项目。

This research award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professor James K. McCusker at Michigan State University to study the effect of spin and spin polarization on the physical and photophysical properties of molecules. Specifically, the research focuses on the design and development of chemical systems that will probe whether there exists a cause-and-effect relationship between the physical/photophysical properties of molecules and their innate spin properties, and if so, to what extent can that connection be exploited in order to manipulate the chemical reactivity of molecules. These efforts involve the application of various spectroscopic measurements (both steady-state and time-resolved) that will establish on a fundamental level the thermodynamic and kinetic influence of zero-field spin polarization on the ground- and excited-state properties of molecules. Additionally, the program will explore the connection between spin polarization and chemical reactivity through a series of experiments that will probe spin effects on energy transfer, electron transport through single spin-coupled molecules, as well as polarization transfer through a molecular bridge. The nature of the research is interdisciplinary; students involved in this project (undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students) will receive broad-based training in synthetic chemistry, state-of-the-art spectroscopic methodology, magnetism, and theory while at the same time working on projects having relevance to fields as diverse as molecular electronics, magnetism, photochemistry, and catalysis.