Laser spectroscopy of metal and semimetal molecules

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

With this renewal award, the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanism Program A (CSDM-A) of the Division of Chemistry supports Professor Michael D. Morse of the University of Utah in a project that will use lasers to probe the structural and bonding properties of small metal and boron containing molecules in the gas phase. These investigations will provide data that will be used as benchmarks for results obtained by modern computational techniques. This project will increase fundamental knowledge of the nature of the chemical bonds in a series of interesting and important molecules. Students participating in this research will receive training in instrument development, vacuum technology, electronics and computational techniques. The principal investigator will conduct a series of workshops for high school teachers of advanced placement chemistry. This project will use laser spectroscopy to develop a fundamental understanding of the electronic structure and chemical bonding in small molecules. Systems to be studied include: (1) the molecules BNB and BC2, triatomic molecules for which high-level theory yields conflicting results; (2) boron clusters,which have been shown to have interesting electronic structure, which influences the molecular structure; (3) diatomic metal and silicon containing species, to determine the bond lengths and electronic symmetries of these species; and (4) a range of 3d, 4d, 5d, and 4f metal molecules with a cryo-cooled ion trap, in order to build up an accurate (<0.3 kJ/mol) database of bond dissociation energies for metal-metal bonds. Extensive collaborations with computational and theoretical specialists are planned.