MRI: Acquisition of a Single Crystal X-Ray Diffractometer for Research and Education with Regional Impact

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This award is jointly supported by the Major Research Instrumentation and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Programs. The University of Pittsburgh is acquiring a dual-source single crystal diffractometer equipped with Cu and Mo X-ray sources, an enhanced detector, and a cryogenic device to support the research of Professor Raul Hernandez Sanchez and colleague Nathaniel Rosi. In general, an X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three-dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of a molecule relative to neighboring molecules. The studies described here impact many areas, including organic, inorganic, organometallic chemistry, catalysis, and biochemistry. This instrument is an integral part of teaching as well as research and research training of undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry at this institution. The award is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. The instrument is used to study and characterize a number of different chemical species and materials. The research enabled includes the development of conjugated tubular species, macrocyclic furan based structures, and conjugated ladder-type heteroacene compounds, the elucidation of peptide and protein structures, the analysis of Cu complexes bearing bidentate and tridentate scaffolds, the design and synthesis of multicomponent MOFs for H2/CO2 separations, the engineering of novel metal clusters capable of performing challenging chemical transformations, harnessing surface core-ligand interfaces in nanocluster catalysts, precisely determine the structure of intermediates and products relevant in the activation of small molecules at polynuclear clusters of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu, organic molecule development: from fundamental transformations.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.