MRI: Acquisition of a Modern Single Crystal X-ray Diffractometer for Research and Education

This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation programs. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is acquiring a single crystal X-ray diffractometer (SCXRD) to support Professor Wei You and colleagues Jeffrey Johnson, Alexander Miller, Jillian Dempsey and Aleksandr Zhukhovitskiy. In general, an X-ray diffractometer allows for the accurate and precise determination of the full three-dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of a molecule relative to neighboring molecules in the crystal lattice.

The studies described here impact many areas, including organic and inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, solar fuel production and biochemistry. This instrument is an integral part of teaching as well as research and research training of undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry and biochemistry at this institution as well as collaborators from other regional universities such as the University of North Carolina Greensboro, North Carolina Central University, Duke University, Elon University, Davidson College and East Carolina University.

The award of this diffractometer is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It especially impacts the development of chemical reactions and deployment of reaction strategies for the synthesis of bioactive natural products with an emphasis on sustainable catalysis. The instrumentation is used in the development of approaches to the sustainable synthesis of chemical building blocks and fuels and for improving efficiency in solar fuel production by optimizing fundamental electron transfer processes.

In addition, it benefits studies of high-valent iron-oxo porphyrins that perform selective hydroxylations of unactivated sp3 hybridized carbon-hydrogen bonds and studies developing asymmetric methods for enantioselective synthesis of lactones and hydroxy esters. This diffractometer also benefits the exploration of catalysis for conjugated polymer synthesis, and the creation of optoelectronic devices through the development of hybrid perovskites.

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.