CAREER: Ultrafast x-ray imaging of molecular dynamics in solution: a research program that enhances students' learning

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Christoph Rose-Petruck of Brown University is funded through a CAREER grant in the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program. He will utilize newly acquired ultrafast X-ray pulses to study the molecular motions accompanying the photolysis of metal carbonyls in solution. The advantage here is that using X-ray absorption spectroscopy, direct structural determinations can be made for the first time on ultra-short lived molecular species. Professor Rose-Petruck will produce a "Virtual Laboratory Manual" which enables students to practice with simulated instruments and deal with sample raw data before performing the real experiment in the laboratory. At a more advanced level, students will then work with Rose-Petruck's "Virtual Research Project" and in group work, learn from a simulated research project. The structures of chemical species undergoing reactions have to date only been surmised using light-based techniques that rely heavily on theory for interpretation. With ultrafast x-ray pulses, scientists will have a greater chance of getting "snapshots" of very short lived species in a direct manner. Understanding structural changes in a chemical reaction will lead to the design of more efficient synthetic pathways. The educational plan here utilizes the World Wide Web in an interactive fashion to improve learning in the laboratory.