CAREER: Small Neutral All-Carbon Molecules from Well-Defined Precursors

该项目涉及教学和研究活动的一体化。研究方面包括合成和研究中性的全碳小分子。这些化合物在从石墨蒸气中生成富勒烯的过程中起着关键作用，但人们对这些假定的富勒烯前体的反应性知之甚少。气相和低温基质中全碳化合物的受控生产和分离将提供有关线性和环状全碳异构体的结构和反应活性的详细光谱信息。研究和教育活动的整合包括将当前的研究主题纳入本科课程，以及将分子建模纳入教学和研究。有了这个职业奖，有机和高分子项目为纽约州立大学石溪分校的南希·S·戈洛夫教授的研究提供了支持。戈洛夫教授将研究新的小分子的行为，这些小分子被理论上认为是巴克明斯特富勒烯和相关化合物的前体，并将寻求将这些研究活动与她的教学职责相结合。将把当前的研究课题带入课堂，使课程生动活泼，让学生更好地欣赏现代化学。此外，分子建模系列研讨会被视为推进理科专业教学的机会，因为它是现代化学研究的关键部分。

This project involves the integration of teaching and research activities. The research aspects involve the synthesis and study of small, neutral, all-carbon molecules. These play a key role in the formation of fullerenes from graphite vapor, but very little is known about the reactivity of these putative fullerene precursors. Controlled production and isolation of the all-carbon compounds in the gas phase and in low-temperature matrices will provide detailed spectroscopic information about the structures and reactivity of both linear and cyclic all-carbon isomers. The integration of research and educational activities involves the inclusion of current research topics in the undergraduate curriculum as well as the incorporation of molecular modeling into teaching and research.With this CAREER Award, the Organic and Macromolecular Program provides support for the research of Professor Nancy S. Goroff of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Professor Goroff will study the behavior of novel small molecules that are theorized to be precursors to buckminsterfullerenes and related compounds, and will seek to integrate these research activities with her teaching responsibilities. Current research topics will be brought into the classroom to enliven the curriculum and provide students with a better appreciation for modern chemistry. In addition, a workshop series in molecular modeling is seen as an opportunity for the advancement of teaching for science majors, since it is a critical part of modern chemical research.