Design and Characterization of Late Transition Metal Complexes and Single-Molecule Magnets

在化学系化学合成项目的资助下，密苏里大学圣路易斯市分校的Stephen M. Holmes博士。路易斯正在开发磁性分子，以更好地了解如何在小颗粒中控制磁性。磁性材料广泛应用于技术上重要的设备，如扬声器、电动机、噪声过滤器、变压器和信息存储介质，如磁性硬盘驱动器。在信息存储方面，人们越来越重视制造更小的磁性颗粒来增加数据存储密度。不幸的是，较小的磁性颗粒通常会导致更快的数据丢失，从而限制了传统硬盘的实用性。霍姆斯博士正在制造磁性分子，以了解小磁铁在不同条件下的行为。通过研究分子模型，他建立了温度、分子中的能量变化和运动之间的关系，目的是将这些与它们的磁性联系起来。Holmes博士还积极参与推广活动，鼓励小学、高中和本科生积极参与研究和教学。霍姆斯博士还推动涉及少数族裔、女性和经济困难学生的STEM外展活动。他目前支持女性和少数民族高中和本科生实习生，并正在为他所在大学的本科生实验室开发实验室实验和STEM活动。这些研究和培训活动提高了国家在计算机和电子开发等高科技领域的竞争力。霍尔姆斯正在对小分子如何表现为磁铁（单分子磁铁）有更好的理解。他正在致力于设计晚期过渡金属单分子磁性配合物，其振动和电子特性可以系统地调谐。他致力于建立化学键、分子间接触、分子和电子结构之间的关系。这些变化正在使用各种光谱和磁测量技术进行探测，以推断哪些结构和电子特征在磁弛豫中最重要。他正在设计减缓磁弛豫的合成方法，从而制备出在高温下性能更好的材料。霍姆斯博士还在开发旨在提高教育水平的高中和本科实验室实验。他正在与地方和国家教育推广项目合作，让来自经济困难、少数民族服务和表现不佳学区的学生参与研究活动，培养他们对stem相关研究领域的持续兴趣。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With funding from the Chemical Synthesis Program of the Division of Chemistry , Dr. Stephen M. Holmes of the University of Missouri-St. Louis is developing magnetic molecules to gain a better understanding of how to control magnetism within small particles. Magnetic materials find widespread use in technologically-important devices such as speakers, electrical motors, noise filters, transformers, and information storage media such as magnetic hard drives. In the case of information storage, there is an increasing emphasis on creating smaller magnetic particles to increase data storage density. Unfortunately, smaller magnetic particles often give faster data loss, limiting the usefulness of traditional hard drives. Dr. Holmes is making magnetic molecules to understand how small magnets behave under various conditions. By studying molecular models, he is establishing relationships between temperature, energy changes in the molecule, and motions, with a goal of relating these to their magnetic properties. Dr. Holmes is also actively engaged in outreach activities that encourage elementary, high school, and undergraduate students to be active participants in research and teaching. Dr. Holmes also promotes STEM outreach involving minority, female, and financially disadvantaged students. He currently supports female and minority high school and undergraduate interns and is developing laboratory experiments and STEM activities for the undergraduate laboratories at his university. These research and training activities advance national competitiveness in high tech sectors such as computing and electronics development.Dr. Holmes is developing a better understanding of how small molecules can behave as magnets (single-molecule magnets). He is working to design late transition metal single-molecule magnetic complexes whose vibrational and electronic properties may be systematically tuned. He is working towards establishing relationships between chemical bonding, intermolecular contacts, and molecular and electronic structures. These changes are being probed using various spectroscopic and magnetic measurement techniques to deduce which structural and electronic features are most important in magnetic relaxation. He is devising synthetic approaches for slowing magnetic relaxation, leading to the preparation of materials that perform better at higher temperatures. Dr. Holmes is also developing high school and undergraduate laboratory experiments that are aimed at improving the education. He is partnering with local and national educational outreach programs to engage students from financially disadvantaged, minority-serving, and underperforming school districts in research activities, fostering their continuing interest in STEM-related fields of study.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.