RUI: Changes in Molecular Electronic Environments upon Complex Formation - The First Steps toward Reaction?

Amherst College, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Helen O. Leung and Prof. Mark D. Marshall of Amherst College and their undergraduate research students will investigate the microwave spectra of a series of van der Waals complexes. Included in these studies are complexes where one of the partners is a reactive, open-shell species. The ultimate goal of these studies is to probe how the electronic environment of an atom or molecule changes as it begins to react. The results of these studies will be of broad interest to chemists. Besides the potential broader scientific impact of the proposed research, Prof. Leung and Prof. Marshall will provide their undergraduate research students with a challenging opportunity to perform difficult research, the results of which they will present at national professional meetings and publish in the scientific literature.