Synthetic inorganic and bioinorganic chemistry

细菌将大气中的氮转化为氨，这对地球上的生命从化学角度获得氮至关重要。这是一种真正具有全球意义的反应。微生物利用氮酶进行这种化学反应。一个由铁、硫、钼和氮原子组成的不寻常的簇是酶内的反应活性位点。这个星团是如何工作的还是个谜。我们提出了一个研究计划来调查这个谜团。计算机模型表明，铁原子和氮原子之间的相互作用是氮酶活性的核心；然而，这种化学反应几乎没有先例。我们希望在受控的合成系统中开发和研究这些相互作用，以了解它们的基本性质。然后我们可以运用这些基本知识来分析和理解生物过程。在短期内，我们项目的结果将促进我们对基础无机化学和生物化学的理解。从更长远的角度来看，这项研究的见解有可能提高具有经济意义的工业化学过程的效率和能力。在该领域接受培训的学生将获得广泛的科学研究背景，并在一系列化学和物理技术方面拥有经验；这些资格对于他们未来对国家科学/技术基础设施的工业或学术贡献将是有价值的。

The bacterial conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia is critical in making nitrogen chemically available to life on Earth.  It is a reaction of truly global significance.  The microbes use the nitrogenase enzyme to carry out this chemistry.  An unusual cluster of iron, sulfur, molybdenum, and nitrogen atoms is the site of reactivity within the enzyme.  How the cluster works is a mystery. We propose a research program that investigates some of this mystery.  Computer models suggest that interactions between iron and nitrogen atoms are at the heart of nitrogenase activity; such chemistry, however, has little precedent.  We want to develop and study these interactions in controlled synthetic systems in order to learn their fundamental properties.  We can then apply this basic knowledge towards analyzing and understanding the biological process. In the near-term, the results from our program will advance our understanding of fundamental inorganic and biological chemistry.  From a longer perspective, insights from this research have the potential to improve the efficiency and capabilities of economically-significant industrial chemical processes.  Students trained in this field will acquire a broad scientific research background with experience in a range of chemical and physical techniques; these qualifications will be valuable for their future industrial or academic contributions to the national scientific/technical infrastructure.