Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The chemical behavior of small reactive gases such as carbon dioxide and the sulfur oxides is important on the large-scale vis-à-vis global warming and acid rain. Often overlooked is their role in materials and in biological systems. In order to understand more of this chemistry, we are systematically exploring the reactivity of these small gaseous molecules in a wide variety of environments, including unusual solvents and also within porous materials. This exploration can be guided by the use of coordination chemistry, a process wherein a small molecule or ion donates electrons to the reactive gas. When an interaction occurs a new bond is formed, which often results in significant modification of the behavior and reactivity of the parent gas. In the case of strong interactions, the product molecules can sequester the gas. In the case of weak interactions, the chemistry of the gaseous molecule may be altered but the gas can subsequently be released because it is only weakly held.In this proposal we outline our plan to explore the chemistry of carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide in a wide variety of chemical environments. As mentioned above, this chemistry will be important for our understanding of these industrial gases on a large-scale. The studies in new and unusual media will provide valuable insight as to how nature handles these important molecules within, for example, the active sites of enzymes, i.e., on a much smaller scale.