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Columns::September 8, 2003
Delaware expert on academic effectiveness named director of UGA institutional research
Karen Holbrook, former UGA provost, will deliver McBee Lecture
CURO apprentices participate in national issues forum on terrorism
Scientists discover gene that maintains genome stability
Researchers test less lethal means to find contamination levels
Economics professor lucks out with state lottery research project
Update: Private Giving
Kudos
Faculty of Engineering member discusses role of ethics in research projects
Food for thought
Campus News
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| Distinguished Research Professor of Chemistry Gregory Robinson is one of five UGA investigators on the project, which aims to expand the current understanding of the phenomenon known as “metalloaromaticity.” (Photo by Peter Frey) |
Smell of success
Chemists receive $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant to study aromatic compounds
By Phil Williams
phil@franklin.uga.edu
The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant of $2.5 million during a five-year period to the University of Georgia for the study of important compounds called aromatics--structures with closed circuits of mobile electrons that make them relatively stable.
“This is a significant grant from the National Science Foundation, and continues the very strong momentum in UGA’s research program,” says President Michael F. Adams. “Research funding increased by more than 12 percent last year, and we look forward to another year of significant support for the work of our faculty.”
The grant was awarded to UGA chemists Gregory H. Robinson, R. Bruce King, Henry F. Schaeffer III, Paul von Ragué Schleyer and Peter R. Schreiner.
“Basically, aromatic molecules are involved in any process or application that utilizes chemistry,” says Robinson, who is a Distinguished Research Professor in the chemistry department. “This would span the spectrum from the synthesis of pharmaceuticals to semiconductors to computer circuits to the dark matter of deep space. Wherever one finds chemistry, one also finds aromatic molecules. This is due, in part, to the great stability of aromatic substances (and to their special electronic properties).
“Although coined in the 19th century, the terms aromatic and aromaticity are now among the most widely used in the whole of science,” Robinson also says. “As compelling evidence of the enduring and increasing importance of aromaticity, the scientific literature reveals more ‘aromatic’ citations in the last decade than AIDS. This research grant is to fund research aimed at ‘next generation aromatics.’ ”
The scientists’ interdisciplinary collaboration is aimed at significantly expanding the current understanding of the recently discovered phenomenon known as “metalloaromaticity.”
Aromatic compounds have a special stability and properties because of a closed loop of electrons. Not all molecules with ring structures are aromatic. The best-known aromatic compound is probably benzene. Though the term “aromaticity” in the past did generally refer to an odor from these compounds, not all aromatic molecules have an odor. The term actually refers to chemical behavior, not scent or odor.
“The reason there has been such a huge number of scientific citations is due in large measure to the discovery, both by experiment and computation, of fascinating new classes of aromatics,” says Robinson. A number of these discoveries were made by these researchers at UGA.
The investigators in the project have diverse yet complementary backgrounds in organic, inorganic, organometallic, synthetic, computational and theoretical chemistry. Each, however, has well-documented expertise concerning the concept of aromaticity. To study next-generation aromatic species, the researchers will explore the possibilities of extending aromatic chemistry to other elements, including lead, tin, gallium and indium. Aromaticity is a characteristic that has many uses in industry, including in properties of superconductivity.
This grant from the NSF is under its Collaborative Research in Chemistry program. |
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