Upgrade of a CCD-based X-Ray Diffraction Laboratory

University Of Missouri-Saint Louis, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Missouri in St. Louis will upgrade its CCD-based X-ray diffraction laboratory. Faculty at Washington University and St. Louis University will also have access to this resource. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including studies on a) the development of new copper-based radiopharmaceuticals; b) the synthesis of neutral multimetallic arrays; c) formation of bimetallaboranes containing widely differing transition metals; d) metallabenzenes and other benzenoid metallacycles; e) Si-H bond activation by electron-rich transition metal complexes; f) chemistry and biology of steroids; g) the study of electron-deficient species; h) the supramolecular chemistry of alkali metal cations; and i) the synthesis of organometallic complexes with interesting optoelectronic properties. The X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and it provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of the molecule relative to the neighboring molecules. These studies will have an impact in a number of areas, especially synthesis of important inorganic chemicals and medicinal chemistry.