Exploring Unusual Organic Molecules and Unconventional Reactivity at Low Temperatures

有了这个更新奖，有机和高分子化学计划继续支持化学系教授罗伯特谢里丹在内华达州，里诺，内华达大学的工作。 这项研究将扩展PI对被困在极低温惰性气体基质上的高活性有机分子的研究。将进行旨在产生和研究探测有机稳定性和反应性极限的分子的实验。 将使用IR和UV/可见光谱法探测这些基质分离物质的结构。 这些调查将补充解决方案的产品研究，以及协作的时间分辨动力学调查。 现代计算化学将发挥重要作用，无论是在帮助光谱表征这些系统，并在探测其电子和结构的复杂性。 这些物种的反应中的量子力学隧穿将与现代理论方法合作研究。 这些研究将测试现代理论方法在由最低量子能级隧穿主导的反应中的预测能力。 高能有机反应中间体的这些调查预计将提供重要的基本信息，将影响星际化学，生物系统的光亲和标记，燃烧，烟灰形成，富勒烯生产，新的抗癌/抗生素剂，光刻，磁性材料和有机合成。 这项工作的结果将提供一个重要的角度对潜在的量子力学隧穿，这是一个现象，是非常广泛的各种系统，从酶动力学星际反应的重要。 调查将为学生提供有机合成，精密光谱学，物理有机技术和现代理论方法的特别广泛的培训。

With this renewal award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program continues its support of the work of Professor Robert Sheridan of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, NV. The research will extend the PI's studies of highly reactive organic molecules trapped on very low temperature inert gas matrices. Experiments designed to generate and investigate molecules that probe the limits of organic stability and reactivity will be carried out. The structure of these matrix-isolated species will be probed with IR and UV/visible spectroscopy. These investigations will be complemented by solution product studies, as well as collaborative time-resolved kinetic investigations. Modern computational chemistry will play a major role, both in aiding the spectroscopic characterization of these systems, and in probing their electronic and structural complexities. Quantum mechanical tunneling in the reactions of these species will be investigated with modern theoretical methods in collaborative efforts. These studies will test the predictive powers of modern theoretical methods in reactions dominated by tunneling from lowest quantum levels. These investigations of high-energy organic reactive intermediates are expected provide important fundamental information that will impact upon interstellar chemistry, photoaffinity labeling of biological systems, combustion, soot formation, fullerene production, new anticancer/antibiotic agents, photolithography, magnetic materials, and organic synthesis. The results of this work will provide an important perspective on the potential for quantum mechanical tunneling, a phenomenon that is important in a very wide variety of systems, ranging from enzyme kinetics to interstellar reactions. The investigations will offer especially broad training for students in organic synthesis, sophisticated spectroscopy, physical organic techniques, and modern theoretical methodology.