An instrument was constructed to measure molecular fluorescence (FL) or chemiluminescence (CL) and absorbance (ABS) simultaneously. The lower, middle, and upper portions of the test solution are probed to obtain ABS, FL, and CL data. Optical fibers are used extensively. The ABS and FL or CL spectra are acquired in...
In this thesis, we investigated the surface composition and orientation of both pure room-temperature ionic liquids (Ils) and binary mixtures of the ILs of the type consisting of the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C[subscropt n]mim]⁺, n=4, 8, and 12) cation coupled with either [PF₆]⁻, [BF₄]⁻, [Cl]⁻, or [Br]⁻. The surfaces of the ILs...
The potassium salts of a series of 1-vinylcycloalk-3-en-l-ols were found to undergo ring expanding [1, 3]-sigmatropic shifts at 25° when dissolved in hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) or 1, 2-dimethoxyethane (DME) with 18-crown-6. The yields and reaction rates were compared with those of the corresponding Siloxy-Cope ring expansions. These anionic cases showed about...
In this dissertation, I describe the experimental investigation of catching ions in superfluid helium droplets. The ultimate goal of our project is to build a coherent electron diffraction apparatus for atomic structure determination from oriented single macromolecules. This involves generating protein ions from electrospray ionization (ESI) and doping them in...
The photochemistry of some analogs of insect growth regulators
(IGR's) was studied. Methyl geranate, TY, was synthesized and the
mechanisms of its photochemical reaction pathways were studied by a
variety of techniques. Direct irradiation of 71 in ether leads to the
formation of five new products: 98, the product of...
My work has focused on streamlining the study of organic compound structure, properties, and reactions by 1) understanding and using available computational software, 2) developing software packages to facilitate data manipulation as well as augment public programs, and 3) applying public and in-house developed software to further the understanding of...