CAREER: Versatile Vanadium: Materials Science, Biology, and Education Through Its Diverse Coordination Chemistry

Board Of Trustees Of Illinois State University, Normal IL

Investigators

Abstract

This CAREER award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research by Dr. Craig C. McLauchlan at Illinois State University on the coordination chemistry and reactivity of vanadium with tridentate scorpionate ligands. The studies will elucidate synthetic methodologies in the preparation of these coordination complexes and examine their reactivities and properties for use in materials, catalysis, and therapeutic medicinal applications. The proposed studies should reveal novel vanadium-organophosphonate complexes and offer insight in control of dimensionality through ligand choice. The proposed work offers additional insight into the utilization of vanadium complexes as medicinal therapeutic agents by expanding the understanding of individual factors in the dominant oxidation states of these complexes under physiological conditions. The educational component of this project involves the creation of educational modules for a series of progressively complex classes on the subject of coordination chemistry involving Student Response Device (a.k.a. "clicker") technology. Professor McLauchlan will also incorporate model kits for use in improving student understanding of molecular-level structure. He will establish a mentoring network and offer workshops and free use of a student response system to interested community college faculty. Professor McLauchlan will also mentor students in the teaching/research laboratory, providing them with a broad skill set in synthesis, characterization, and X-ray training, which will prepare the students well for their futures in industry or graduate school.