Excited and Ground State Hydrogen Migration

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamic and Mechanism B Program of the Chemistry Division and directed by Professor Matthew Platz, NSF funds are used to support undergraduate research at the University of Hawaii-Hilo (UHH). The research incorporates synthetic organic chemistry, photochemistry, chemical analysis of reaction mixtures and chemical computations. This research tests the predictions of advanced theoretical methods in the description of a new photochemical reaction mechanism. The University of Hawaii Hilo (UH Hilo) consistently ranks among the most diverse four-year campuses in the nation. This project provides a modern research experience to economically-challenged undergraduate students from historically underrepresented populations. Through a collaborative relationship, UH Hilo undergraduates spend summer months at the Ohio State University developing skills in computational chemistry under the tutelage of Professor Christopher Hadad, an expert in the field of time-resolved, femtosecond measurements. In Hilo, Hawaii, undergraduate students synthesize diazirines, diazo compounds and oxadiazolines, expose these compounds to monochromatic ultraviolet-visible radiation to generate carbene intermediates, and analyze the ratio of alkene products so produced as a function of excitation wavelength. The predictions of theory are confirmed if the ratio of alkene stereoisomers changes dramatically after a critical energy of exciting photons is realized. Through a collaborative relationship, UH Hilo undergraduates spend summer months at the Ohio State University developing skills in computational chemistry under the tutelage of Professor Christopher Hadad, an expert in the field. The students also participate in femtosecond time-resolved infrared experiments which measure the lifetimes and reactivities of carbenes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.