Chemistry Department News
May 23, 2003
Ralf Kaiser's Department of Energy proposal entitled "Investigating the Reaction Dynamics of Dicarbon and Tricarbon Reactions with Unsaturated Hydrocarbons" has been funded. Including matching funds, the total award is $480,000. It will be used for equipment (laser systems), personnel, and operational expenses.
Katja Michael was informed by a program officer of the American Chemical Society that she has received a PRF type G grant ($35,000, grant period 9-1-03 to 8-31-05). The title of her research proposal is "Phototransamidation as a convergent approach to N-glycopeptides".
Prof. Janice G. Smith has been awarded a Chancellor's Citation for Meritorious Teaching. This is based on the very very high classroom evaluations that she receives each time she teaches a lecture course.
Letty Colmenares (Ph.D. 1991, R. Liu), instructor at Windward Community College, has won the Board of Regents' Award of Excellence in Teaching. Nice job.
After two years being a post-doc in Prof. J. Katzenellenbogen's group at Illinois, Rajeev Muthyala Ph.D. with R. Liu) now identifies himself as a medicinal chemist. He has just accepted an assistant professor position at CCNY to start in July.
Stefan Schieffer from Cologne (Ph.D. with Professor Griesbeck) has joined the Liu research group. He is now the new resident photochemist/Hula-twister.
New Publications:
J. Saltiel and R. S. H. Liu, “Michael Kasha and George S. Hammond,” J. Phys. Chem. A, 107, 3147-3148 (2003).
S. Shevyakov, H-R. Li, R. Muthyala, A. E. Asato, J. Croney, D. Jameson and R. S. H. Liu, “Orbital Control of the Color and Excited State Properties of Formylated and Fluorinated Derivatives of Azulene,” J. Phys. Chem. A, 107, 3295-3299 (2003).
L. U. Colmenares and R. S. H. Liu, “F NMR and Regiospecific Photoisomerization of Fluorine Labeled Rhodopsin Analogs. An Interpretation Based on Recent Crystal Structures of Rhodopsin,” J. Photosci., 10, 81-87 (2003).
June 6, 2003
John Head left this week for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington State. He will be back in two months.
George Andermann presented a paper, “Marine Fero-Manganese Crusts for Air Pollution Control - Potential for a Giant New Industry for Hawaii,” at the Ocean Day Conference 2003, arranged by PACON (Pacific Center on
Marine Science and Technology) International, jointly with DBEDT (Department of Business and Economic Development and Tourism), State of Hawaii and CEROS (National Defense Center for Excellence in Research in Ocean Sciences) on June 4, 2003, Honolulu.
June 20, 2003
Craig Jensen attended the European Materials Research Society meeting inStrasbourg, France, June 10-13 and presented an invited talk.
Do Weon Lee (Ph.D., Jensen 1998) has been appointed the Chair of Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Seoul.
July 3, 2003
Congratulations from all of us to Dr. Kristin Kumashiro on her promotion, effective August 1, to Associate Professor of Chemistry with tenure.
On July 1, Thomas T. Bopp assumed the duties of chair of the department, relieving Karl Seff who held that position since 7/1/2000.
A research team of twelve people from this university, including Prof. Ralf Kaiser, was chosen to be a NASA Astrobiology Institute Lead Team (http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/UHNAI/). The NASA award will bring more than $5,000,000. to the university for astrobiological research over the next five years, mainly for postdocs, educational outreach, and operational costs. The UH research programs will focus on water as the habitat of, and chemical enabler for, life. The interdisciplinary research team includes members from the departments of chemistry, geology and geophysics, information and computer sciences, and oceanography, and the institutes of astronomy and geophysics and planetology.
Dr. Liu is attending the annual meeting of the American Society of Photobiology at Baltimore (July 5-9). He will give an invited lecture on Mechanisms on Photoisomerization and Phototrigger of the Visual Process. He will also visit the University of Maryland and give a lecture there.
Katja Michael attended this year's Gordon Research Conference "Carbohydrates" in Tilton, New Hampshire, June 22 - June 27, 2003. She presented a poster and gave a selected short talk entitled: A convergent approach to N-glycopeptides with minimal amounts of aspartimide formation.
The Kumashiro lab will host a visitor later this month. All are very welcome to attend his seminar—Priv.-Doz. Dr. Detlef Reichert University of Halle / Department of Physics / NMR & Biophysics group“Investigation of slow dynamic processes in organic solids by solid-state NMR: Principles and application to biopolymers” Tuesday, July 15, 2003, Bilger 242, 1:30 p.m.
New Publication:
G. Andermann, T. Scimeca and C. H. Zhang, “Trace Analysis of Al on Silicon Surfaces by Ultra-soft X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy,” Spectroscopy Letters, Vol. 36, Nos. 1&2, 93-98 (2003).
July 18, 2003
During July 25 - August 3, Dr. R. Liu will be in Japan for the international symposium on photochemistry and will visit Mie University. He will give an invited talk on Hula-twist and the phototrigger for the visual process.
Karl Seff is leaving next week for a meeting of the American Crystallographic Association in Covington, Kentucky where he will present an invited paper entitled, “Disproportionation of the Elements Sulfur and Iodine in Zeolite X.”
Effective immediately, the new chair of the Graduate Committee is Professor Thomas Hemscheidt. The other members are Andermann (Analytical), Cramer (Inorganic), Head (Physical), and Tius (Organic).
New Publication:
D. Sillars, R.I. Kaiser, N. Galland, Y. Hannachi, Crossed beam reaction of boron atoms with dimethylacetylene, CH3CCCH3: Untangling the reaction dynamics to form the 1,2-dimethylene-3-bora-cyclopropane molecule, J. Phys. Chem. A, 107, 5149-5156 (2003). The cover page shows the structure of the novel molecule together with the Saturn V rocket.
August 1, 2003
Craig Jensen presented an invited seminar at the General Electric Global Research Center in Schenecady New York on July 11. The visit was highlighted by a chance meeting of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, who was staying at the same hotel.
Dalin Sun and Craig Jensen attended the Gordon Research Conference on Hydrogen Metal Systems in Waterville, Maine July 13-17. At the meeting, Jensen was elected chairman of the 2007 conference. Since this is an every-other-year conference, he will be vice chair at the 2005 conference.
New Publication:
R.I. Kaiser, L. Vereecken, J. Peeters, H.F. Bettinger, P.v. R. Schleyer, H.F. Schaefer Elementary reactions of the phenyl radical, C6H5,with C3H4 isomers and of benzene, C6H6, with atomic carbon in extraterrestrial environments, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 406, 385-391 (2003).
August 14, 2003
The Heroes of Chemistry 2003 program of ACS publicly recognizes how the groundbreaking work of industrial chemists and chemical engineers saves lives and makes our children healthier. Seventeen scientists comprising four corporate teams have been selected as Heroes of Chemistry 2003 to honor their successful development of commercial products that enhance the health and wellness of our children. Among them is Hing L. Sham (Ph.D. 1980, R. Liu) of Abbott Laboratory for developing lopinavir/ritonavir, commonly known as Kaletra, to treat HIV infection.
Aloha to Mike Kurz (recently retired as chair at Illinois State University) who did a good job for us teaching Chem 273 and 273L in the Second Summer Session. Now he is off to teach at U. T., San Antonio.
A three day meeting entitled ‘Astrochemistry - from Laboratory Studies to Astronomical Observations’ will be held as part of the Pacifichem 2005 Meeting in Honolulu, Section Physical ad Theoretical Chemistry. This satellite meeting is organized by Ralf I. Kaiser (USA), Simon Petrie (NZ), Young C. Minh (KOR), Peter Bernath (CAN), Alexander M. Mebel (USA), and Yoshihiro Osamura (JAP). R. Kaiser
New Publications:
Y. Imamoto, T. Kuroda, M. Kataoka, S. Shevyakov, G. Krishnamoorthy and R. S. H. Liu, “Photoisomerization by Hula-twist. 2,2’-Dimethylstilbene and a Ring-fused Analog” Angew. Chem., intern. Ed., 42, 3630-3633 (2003).
G. Krishnamoorthy, A. E. Asato and R. S. H. Liu, “Conformational Isomerizations of Symmetrically Substituted Styrenes. No-reaction photoreactions by Hula-twist,” Chem. Comm., 2170-2171 (2003).
R. S. H. Liu and G. S. Hammond, “Photochemical Reactivity of Polyenes. From Dienes to Rhodopsin; from Microseconds to Femtoseconds,” Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2, 835-844 (2003).
K. Nakamura, T. Fujimoto, S. Takara, K. Sugiura, H. Miyasaka, T. Ishii, M. Yamashita, Y. Sakata “Systematic Synthesis of Porphyrin Dimers Linked by Conjugated Oligoacetylene Bridges” Chem. Lett. 8, 694-695 (2003).
August 22, 2003
Welcome and Aloha! As we begin a new academic year, we welcome some new faces to the Chemistry Department.
New Faculty:
- Assistant Professor Satoshi Takara, Bil 321A, x6-2705 Satoshi is an inorganic chemist, teaching Chem 423.
New Visiting Faculty:
- Dr. Cynthia Rajani, Bil 247B, x6-7579, teaching Chem 333 and 333L
- Dr. Naresh Pandya, Bil 318, x6-8282, teaching Chem 162
New Assistant Researcher:
- Dr. Debasis Hazra, BA417, x6-9690, working with Tius
New Post Docs:
- William Batson, BA 419, x6-5410, working with Tius
- David LeGoanvic, BA 407, x6-3119, working with Tius
- Sethumadhavan DivakaraMenon, BA 407, x6-3119, working with Tius
- Guntram Christiansen, BA 310, x6-5588, working with Hemscheidt
- Stefan J. Schieffer, Bil 207, x6-5722, working with Liu
New Graduate Students:
- Caleb M. Brown, Bil 208, x6-5719
- Todd H. Dalton, BA 402, x6-9688
- Darryl D. Dixon, BA 419, x6-5410
- Michael S. Epstein, Bil 208, x6-5719
- Michael C. Grech, BA 402, x6-9688
- S. Reese Harry, Bil 303, x6-5786
- David A. Keene, BA 315, x6-3107
- R. Walker Langley, BA 402, x6-9688
- James P. Mitchell, Jr., BA 407, x6-3119
- Quyen H. Nguyen, BA 302, x6-7380
- Lifeng Wan, Bil 302, x6-5786
Last week Dr. L. Reed Brantley passed away at the age of 96. Reed had retired from the UH College of Education, and for a short time in the 1980’s was associated with this department. He was a long time member of the Hawaii section of ACS. A memorial fund has been established at Occidental College where he spent most of his professional life as a faculty member. I have the address if you wish to contribute. T. Bopp
New Publication:
S.Y. Kim, Y. Kim, K. Seff, “Two Crystal Structures of Fully Dehydrated, Fully Ag+-Exchanged Zeolite X. Dehydration in Oxygen Prevents Ag+ Reduction. Without Oxygen, (Ag8)n+ (Td) and cyclo-(Ag4)m+ (near S4) Form,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 6938-6945.
September 5, 2003
Annual Aloha Party—September 27
The annual Chemistry aloha party will be on Saturday, September 27, from 5:00 to 9:00 at Prof. Bopp’s home in Kailua. This event is to welcome the faculty, staff, students, and their families who have recently joined the department. As usual, watch the mailroom door for additional details.
Craig Jensen presented invited talks at the Symposium for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells at the Materials Research Congress XII in Cancun, Mexico on August 18 and the International Workshop on the Present Status of Hydrogen at the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico City on August 21. While in Mexico City, he visited with former postdoc Dr. David Morales-Morales now a professor at the Mexican National Autonomous University.
New publications:
B. C. Hauback, H. W. Brinks, C. M. Jensen, K. Murphy and A. J. Maeland, “Neutron diffraction structure determination of NaAlD4”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2003, 358, 142-145.
E.Y. Choi, S.Y. Kim, Y. Kim, K. Seff, “Crystal Structure of an Ethylene Sorption Complex of Fully Dehydrated, Fully Oxidized, Fully Ag+-Exchanged Zeolite X, Micropor. Mesopor. Mater. 2003, 62, 201-210.
September 19, 2003
Karl Seff left for Korea this week. He will present seminars on the intrazeolitic disproportionation of the elements (and other topics) at Kyungpook, Pusan, and Andong National Universities, at KIER in Daejeon, and at the annual meeting of the Korean Zeolite Association in Kwangju.
Joining Ralf Kaiser's group are:Dr. Abhijit Chakraborty (Department of Physics & Department of Physical Chemistry, Calcutta, India) (Phd: 2002, Low Frequency Vibrations in Supersonic Jets).Dr. Xi-Bin Gu (Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, PRC) (PhD: 2003, Photodissociation of Alkyl and Aryl Halides at 266 nm using a Universal Crossed Molecular Beams Instrument).
October 24, 2003
For the fourth year in a row, the UH Manoa Student Affiliate Chapter (Dr. Janice G. Smith, advisor) has been recognized by the American Chemical Society. This year the chapter was selected to receive an Honorable Mention award for its activities during the 2002-2003 academic year. Of the 950+ chapters nationwide, 77 Honorable Mention awards were given. Congratulations to the student officers and members for a job well done.
Professor W. E. G. Mueller of Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz informed Mrs. Alice Scheuer the appearance of a new series from Springer-Verlag, “Marine Molecular Biotechnology”. The preface in the first volume was contributed by Prof. P. J. Scheuer. Also, there will be a new award in the field of Marine Biotechnology, “Paul-Scheuer-Award”, most likely to be presented by the German Academy, the Akademie gemernnuetziger Wissenschaften zu Erfurt.
During the last two weeks of October, Karl Seff will be visiting the University of Nevada at Reno, the Universities of California at Davis and Berkeley, and Chevron Research in Richmond, CA, and will present research lectures at the latter three.
Two more PacifiChem 2005 Symposia with Hawaii connection:
1. Photoisomerization Processes, Torsioanl Relaxation and Hula-twist, Chair, R. S. H. Liu, co-chairs, H. Kandori, W. Leigh, M. Ishiguro.
2. Marine Natural Products, Chair, R. Okuda, co-chairs: T. Higa and R. Andersen.
New Publications:
Tetsu Kiyobayashi, Sesha S. Srinivasan, Dalin Sun, and Craig M. Jensen “Kinetic Study and Determination of the Enthalpies of Activation of Titanium and Zirconium Doped NaAlH4 and Na3AlH6.” J. Phys. Chem. A 2003, 107, 7671.
R. S. H. Liu and G. S. Hammond, “Hula-twist: A Photochemical Reaction Mechanism Involving Simultaneous Configurational and Conformaitonal Isomerization” in CRC Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Photobiology, 2nd. ed., Eds. W. Horspool and F. Lenci, CRC Press 2003, p.26, 1-11.
November 7, 2003
One more PacifiChem 2005 Symposia with Hawaii connection: Metal Complexes of Mixed-Donor Multidentate Ligands: Chemistry and Applications. Co-chairs: Craig Jensen, Yohsuke Yamamoto, and Do Weon Lee.
Karl Seff is in Southern California or Mexico now. He will address the annual meeting of the Mexican Zeolite Association in Zacatecas, and give two other lectures, one at a solid-state research branch of UNAM on Nov. 19 and the other at UCSD on Nov. 20.
On October 20 and 21 Kendra Wong attended the 3rd annual Computation Chemistry Grid Conference at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She presented a poster on the Global Optimization of SixHy at the Ab Initio Level via an Iteratively Parametrized Semiempirical Method coauthored by Yingbin Ge and John Head.
New Publication:
M.N. Bae, M.K. Song, Y. Kim, K. Seff, “Crystal Structure of a Hydrogen Sulfide Complex of Fully Dehydrated Mn2+-Exchanged Zeolite X, Mn46Si100Al92O384.89H2S,” Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 2003, 63, 21-31.
December 5, 2003
Professor Emeritus Edgar F. "Ned" Kiefer passed away on November 29, 2003. Funeral arrangements will be private. I know that the thoughts of all of us are with Diane and the other members of Ned's family at this time.
T. Bopp On Friday, December 12, 2003, there will be a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of the late Edgar F. "Ned" Kiefer. The informal event will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Room 150 Bilger Hall. After a brief program, light refreshments will be served. All who knew Ned are invited to join us. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that a donation be made to the Hawaii Humane Society, or to your favorite charity.
Ralf Kaiser presented two talks on "Astrochemistry and Astrobiology - From Space and Labs to the Class Room" at the Hawaii Science Teacher Fall Conference.
New Publications:
R.I. Kaiser, N. Balucani, D.O. Charkin, A.M. Mebel, "Reaction dynamics on the formation of the butadiynyl radical, HCCCC, in the crossed beam reaction of acetylene, C2H2, with dicarbon molecules, C2," Chem. Phys. Lett. 382, 122-129 (2003).
M.K. Song, E.Y. Choi, Y. Kim, K. Seff, "Disproportionation of an Element in a Zeolite. II. Crystal Structure of an Iodine Sorption Complex of Dehydrated Fully Cd2+-Exchanged Zeolite X, Containing (n-I5)- as I- - (I3)+ - I- and Square (cyclo-I4)2+," J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107, 10709-10714.
December 5, 2003
On Friday, December 12, 2003, there will be a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the life of the late Edgar F. "Ned" Kiefer. The informal event will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Room 150 Bilger Hall. After a brief program, light refreshments will be served. All who knew Ned are invited to join us.
January 16, 2004
A year from now, in December 2004, the supply air to all floors in Bilger Addition will be off for three weeks. This will be a major maintenance job, to replace the 30 year old air handler on the fifth floor. The work will be done after finals week, and will be completed before classes begin in January 2005. Specific dates and details will be provided later. T. Bopp
New Publications:
Do W. Lee, Craig M. Jensen and David Morales-Morales, "Reactivity of Iridium Pincer Complexes Towards CO and CO2: The Crystal Structures of IrH{h2-O2COH}{C6H3-2,6-(CH2PBut2)2} and IrH{C(O)OH}{C6H3-2,6-(CH2PBut2)2}." Organometallics 2003, 22, 4746.
Michael R. Eberhard, Shiro Matsukawa, Yohsuke Yamamoto and Craig M. Jensen; "Novel Unsymmetrical PCP Pincer Ligands and their Palladium(II) Complexes" Journal of Organometalic Chemistry, 2003, 687, 185.
R. S. H. Liu and L. U. Colmenares, "The Molecular Basis for the High Photosensitivity of Rhodopsin," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 2003, 100, 14639-14644.
January 30, 2004
Dick Moore Retirement There will be a buffet lunch at the Pagoda Floating Restaurant (1525 Rycroft Street; 941-6611) on Friday, February 13, 12:00 noon, to celebrate Dick's 40 years of service (1963 - 2003). We are also taking a collection for a gift. RSVP Marc Tius with your contribution no later than Monday, February 9. (Please see Marc Tius in person to sign the card.) lunch $16.00; gift $10
Assistant Professor Woo Taik Lim from Andong National University in Korea is visiting the Seff group this week. He earned his Ph.D. from Nam Ho Heo (Seff, 1987) at Kyungpook National University.
New Publication:
R. S. H. Liu and A. E. Asato, "Tuning the Color and Excited State Properties of the Azulenic Chromophore: NIR Absorbing Pigments and Materials," J. Photochem. Photobiol. C,
February 27, 2004
Following is a list of graduate students who have chosen an advisor:
- Caleb Brown and Michael Grech have joined the Michael group;
- Michael Epstein has joined the Takara group;
- Walker Langley and Todd Dalton have joined the Jensen group;
- Weifeng Wan, Darryl Dixon and Jim Mitchell have joined the Tius group;
- Quyen Nguyen has joined the Hemscheidt group. T. Hemscheidt
Supported by a few colleagues in the department and friends on the mainland, Professor R. Liu is now an official 2005 ACS Tour speaker. Details remain to be worked out.
New publications:
Chris J. Bennett, Corey Jamieson, Alexander M. Mebel & Ralf I. Kaiser, "Untangling the Formation of the Cyclic Carbon Trioxide Isomer in Low Temperature Carbon Dioxide Ices," Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 4, 735 (2004). This work is presented on the cover page of that issue.
Kristin K. Kumashiro, Tracie L. Kurano, Walter P. Niemczura, Marica Martino, and Antonio M. Tamburro, "13C CPMAS NMR Studies of the Elastin-Like Polypeptide (LGGVG)n", Biopolymers, 70, 221-226 (2003).
March 19, 2004
During March 24-26, Professor Liu will be in the Seattle area primarily for the purpose of giving a lecture at the medical school of University of Washington: From Hula-twist to Hawaiian Punch in Photoisomerization of Rhodopsin.
New publication:
N.H. Heo, H.S. Kim, W.T. Lim, and K. Seff, “Synthesis and Crystal Structure of (Ag)4(I)4 Nanoclusters in the Sodalite Cavities of Fully K+-Exchanged Zeolite A,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 3168-3173.
April 2, 2004
Special Meeting about Library Serials: Wednesday, 4/14, 3:30, Bilger 335 A special meeting for all researchers in chemistry (faculty, staff, grad students, postdocs, undergrads) will be held Wednesday afternoon, April 14, 2004, at 3:30 in Bilger 335. This meeting is at the request of Paul Wermager of Hamilton Library. He will be there to explain the current process by which journal subscriptions are being reviewed for cancellation, and how we can assist in minimizing the damage this may cause. Everyone who ever uses the library is invited. T. Bopp
April 23, 2004
After 38 years of service in this department (two years longer than my tenure), Al Asato will be leaving this department. As most of you know, Al spent the bulk of his professional life working with me on different aspects of the polyene program. For many years, to the outside retinoid world he is well respected for his expertise in vitamin A and carotenoid synthesis. (Dr. Britton of UK one time claimed that Al made the first Asatoxanthin and Liutein - Hawaiian variations of astaxanthin and lutein.) Many of the compounds Al made were useful for studies of protein-substrate interactions and for photochemical studies. On the latter, however, I regret to say that I failed to convert him to be a photochemist. After all these years, he is still well grounded on the lowest potential surface. In recent years, Al has helped out different aspects of our lower level teaching program including implementation (with Jan Smith) of the micro-scale labs for Chem 272-3. His early years here were spent in Kiefer¹s group as a graduate student and one year as a post-doc in Moore¹s lab. His departure does not mean golfing everyday. In fact, Al is scheduled to start immediately a yet to be defined job with the State Health Department. I have the uneasy feeling that he might be the one deciding whether the entire State should wave an orange or a red flag in the event of unforeseen chemical disturbances. Let us hope the only flag he will wave will be the one on the 18th hole!
There will be an informal light refreshment/dessert gathering in Bil 242, the conference room, on May 10. Those who would like to wish Al the best, please stop by between 12 and 1 (noon hour). Also, in Connie¹s office is a card for anyone who wishes to sign. R. Liu
For his contribution to the development of science and technology in Korea, Yang Kim (Seff, 1978), Professor of Chemistry at Pusan National University, was awarded the Ungbi Medal by Acting President Go Geon on April 21, 2004 in ceremonies in Seoul.
Chris Bennett gave a presentation at the "NASA Astrobiology Conference" (NASA Ames Research Center Research Center and NASA Astrobiology Center, Moffett Field, California) entitled "Design and operation of a quadruply differentially pumped extreme ultrahigh vacuum machine to study the formation of astrobiologically relevant molecules in extraterrestrial ices," by Chris J. Bennett, Matt Lebar, Corey Jamieson, Ralf I. Kaiser.
May 7, 2004
More than six months after the official start date, we have now received the award notification from the NSF for the Centers of Oceans and Human Health initiative award to the UH. The other half of the award from the National Institute for Environmental Health Science was only five months late. The award is for five years and is a collaborative effort between Chemistry, Oceanography, Cancer Center and the School of Medicine.
The program comprises three research thrusts, one of which is in my laboratory with contributions from the Cancer Research Center. The approximate funding amount, depending on how much overhead we can plow back into the project, is projected to be $990,000 over five years. T. Hemscheidt
Zhaohui Wang has been awarded the 2004 RCUH Student Excellence in Research Award. He will receive $500 from RCUH and $250 from the Chancellor’s office. Congrats Wang! C. Jensen
Recent publication:
Yingbin Ge and John D. Head, "Global Optimization of H-Passivated Si Clusters at the Ab Initio Level via the GAM1 Semiempirical Method," J. Phys. Chem. B, 108, 6025-6034 (2004).
May 14, 2004
At last night's ACS Annual Awards Banquet at Tree Tops Restaurant, the following awards for 2003-2004 were announced:
- Josh M. Nagashima O. C. Magistad Award
- Melinda M. Yamaga Merck Award
- Matthew D. Lebar A.I.C. Award
- Matthew D. Carere Analytical Achievement Award
- Johnathan Z. Cheng CRC Freshman Award
- Lynne E. Hirahara Giichi Fujimoto Scholar Award
- John J. Fujita Chemistry Department Tuition Waiver
- Phillip Williams W.W. Rechnitz Award
- Sri Sugiarti J.J. Zuckerman Award
- April R. Banaag Teaching Assistant Award
- Christopher J. Bennett Teaching Assistant Award
- Angela M. Rouleau Teaching Assistant Award
- Martin P. Sulic Teaching Assistant Award
Congratulations to all of these outstanding students. T. Bopp
New publication:
K.S. Ryu, M.N. Bae, Y. Kim, and K. Seff, "Further crystallographic confirmation that Cs+ ions can occupy sodalite cavities and double six-rings. Crystal structure of fully dehydrated partially Cs+-exchanged zeolite X, |Cs45Na47|[Si100Al92O384]-FAU," Microporous and Mesoporous Mater. 2004, 71, 65-75.
May 28, 2004
Congratulations to Professor Craig Jensen, who is the recipient of the 2004 DOE Hydrogen Program R & D Award. The award was announced and presented at last week's DOE Program Review meeting in Philadelphia.
Craig Jensen presented an invited talk at the symposium on Materials for Hydrogen Storage at the 205th meeting of the Electrochemical Society in San Antonio, Texas on May 10.
New Publications:
R.I. Kaiser, N. Balucani, Y. Hannachi, Unraveling the chemical dynamics of bimolecular reactions of ground state boron, B(2Pj), with acetylene, C2H2, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 6 2205-2211 (2004).
H.F. Bettinger, R.I. Kaiser, The reaction of benzene and boron atom: a combined computational and experimental investigation, JPCA, 108, 4576-4586 (2004).
June 4, 2004
Please welcome the following 8 undergraduates who will be in the department for the next 10 weeks doing research. They are a part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Chemistry at UH Manoa Program which was recently funded by the National Science Foundation.
J. Head
- Jenifer Shafer, Colorado State U (Tius group)
- Katie Olsen, Valdosta State U, Ga (Head, Kaiser)
- Heather Kauwe, Santa Clara U., Ca (to start June 14, Hemscheidt)
- Maureen Verlin, Eureka College, Il (DeCarlo, oceanography)
- Danielle Antal, U. Central Oklahoma (Takara)
- Rachel Steinle, Penn State (Kumashiro)
- Patton Thompson, Transylvania U, Ky (Jensen)
- Cherie Chu, University of Hawaii (Michael)
During June 8-17, Dr. R. Liu will be in Korea and Japan, giving a talk and attending the International Congress on Photobiology in Jeju, Korea and on the way back giving a lecture at Tsukuba.
June 18, 2004
At its meeting on June 16, 2004, the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii acted to approve the promotion of Ralf Kaiser to the rank of Associate Professor. The promotion officially becomes effective August 1. Congratulations, Ralf! T. Bopp
New publication:
"Rehydrogenation and Cycling Studies of Dehydrogenated NaAlH4." Dalin Sun, Sesha S. Srinivasan, Guorong Chen and Craig M. Jensen; J. Alloys and Compd. 2004, 373, 265.
July 2, 2004
Professor Emeritus Richard G. Inskeep passed away at his home in Honolulu on June 16, 2004. He had retired in 1986 after 25 years of service to the University of Hawaii. He served as chair of the chemistry department from 1962 to 1971, a period of growth for the department unequalled before or since.
An informal memorial gathering to share memories of him was held on Friday, June 25, in Bilger Hall 150. We send our condolences to his wife, Maggie. T. Bopp
Tom Bopp will be on vacation beginning July 12, and will return to campus August 9. Roger Cramer will be acting chairman during this period.
New Publications:
D. Sillars, C.J. Bennett, Y. Osamura, R.I. Kaiser, "Infrared Spectroscopic Detection of the Disilenyl (Si2H3) and d3-disilenyl (Si2D3) Radicals in Silane and d4-silane Matrices," Chem. Phys. Lett., 2004, 392, 541-548.
S.K. Kang, Y.M. Lee, Y.I. Kim, K. Seff, and S.N. Choi, "Polymorphism and Weak Anti-ferromagnetic Interactions in Dibromo[(-)-Sparteine-N,N’] Copper(II)," Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2004, 357, 2602-2608.
July 23, 2004
Kristin Kumashiro has received new funding from the NSF. Her proposal ("NMR studies of elastin structure and dynamics") will be funded for 4 years for a total award amount of $604,616.
Dr. Lan-Ying Yang of the Institute of Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing has joined Liu's research group as a post-doctoral researcher, starting July 19. She succeeds Stefan Schieffer as the resident Hula-twister. R. Liu
Craig Jensen attended International Energy Association's Hydrogen Storage Expert's Workshop in Oystese, Norway on July 6-9.
Seminar. Wednesday, July 28, Bilger 152, 4:30 p.m. "Directed Supramolecular Assembly of Lipid Membranes through Chemical Recognition," by Dr. Darryl Y. Sasaki, Sandia National Laboratories
New Publications:
H.W. Brinks, C.M. Jensen, S.S. Srinivasan, B.C. Hauback, D. Blanchard, and K. Murphy "Synchrotron X-ray and Neutron Diffraction Studies of NaAlH4 Containing Ti Additives.” J. Alloys Compd. 2004, 376, 215.
Ali Naghipour, Seyyed Javad Sabounchei, David Morales-Morales, Simón Hernández-Ortega and Craig M. Jensen, "Synthesis of a New Class of Unsymmetrical PCP’ Pincer Ligands and Their Palladium (II) Complexes: X-ray Structure Determination of PdCl{C6H3-2-CH2PPh2-6-CH2PBut2}" Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 2004, 689, 2494.
David Morales-Morales, Rocío Redón, Cathleen Yung, and Craig M. Jensen, "Dehydrogenation of Alkanes Catalyzed by an Iridium-Phosphinito PCP Pincer Complex" Inorganica Chimica Acta 2004, 357, 2953. (invited contribution for special issue on the chemistry of iridium and rhodium complexes)
Kohsuke Ohgo, Tracie L. Kurano, Kristin K. Kumashiro and Tetsuo Asakura, "Structure of the model peptides of Bombyx mori silk-elastin like protein studied with solid state NMR", Biomacromolecules, 5, 744-750 (2004).
August 6, 2004
All members of the department are welcome to attend the Concluding Symposium for the NSF-REU participants which is being held today.
The Downtown Speakers Program presents Can Dogs See Ghosts by Robert Liu, UH Manoa professor of chemistry. This free talk will be held at the American Savings Bank Tower, 1001 Bishop Street, 8th floor, room 805. It is a brown-bag event so attendees are invited to bring their lunches. After more than three decades of research in Vitamin A and the visual pigment rhodopsin, Liu can now find a plausible scientific answers to questions he faced during his boyhood years in Shanghai, China. He will also discuss possible ways of improving vision, attenuating color sensation and photo sensitivity. In other words, can we improve our eyesight beyond the highest quality of camera film - ASA 800?
August 13, 2004
Please join us in the Bilger Courtyard on Thursday August 19 at 4:45 pm to welcome this Fall's new chemistry graduate students. The usual selection of refreshments in green and brown bottles and aluminum cans will be available. J. Head
In the last week of July, John Head attended a conference with the provocative title Molecular Quantum Mechanics: The No Nonsense Path to Progress at Cambridge University, UK. With Yingbin Ge as the coauthor, he presented the group's latest global optimization results: Ligand effects on Si_xL_y cluster structures with L = H and F.
As the semester begins, it is appropriate to inform everyone that the current Manoa Catalog (2004-2005) has major typographical errors in the Chemistry courses on page 379. Specifically, Chem 181A and Chem 351 have "gone missing" from the printed catalog. The error is confined to the printed catalog; all the online materials are correct. There has been no change in either of these courses. We are assured this will be fixed for next year. T.Bopp
New publication:
Jorge Iniguez, T. Yildirim, T.J. Udovic, M. Sulic, and C. M. Jensen, "Structure and Hydrogen Dynamics of Pure and Ti-doped Sodium Alanate," Physical Review B. 2004 70, 60101.
August 27, 2004
New arrivals:
Dr. Weijun Zheng joined the Department of Chemistry as a postdoctoral fellow. His research is carried out in the framework of the UH-NASA Astrobiology grant and centers on the role of water in the astrobiological evolution of the interstellar medium, our solar system, and extra solar planets. Weijung received his PhD in August 2004 in Physical Chemistry working with Prof. Kit Bowen at Johns Hopkins University. R. Kaiser
We welcome Prof. Ararat Yeghikyan as a Fulbright Fellow in the Department of Chemistry. He is carrying out experiments and modeling studies on the origin and evolution of hydrocarbon molecules in the outer solar system ranging from satellites like Iapetus via Miranda to Kuiper-Belt and Trans-Neptunian Objects. R. Kaiser
Meredith Kuba attended the 27th International EPR Symposium at the 46th Rocky Mountain Conference on Analytic Chemistry, August 1-5 in Denver, Colorado. She presented a paper entitled, "Characterization and Mechanistic Studies of the Active Titanium Species in the Reversible Dehydrogenation of Ti-Doped Sodium Aluminum Hydride through EPR". C. Jensen
Corey Jamieson gave a talk at the 228th ACS Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, entitled "Formation pathways of methylamine and glycine in extraterrestrial ices" by Corey S. Jamieson, Chris J. Bennett, Yoshihiro Osamura, and Ralf I. Kaiser
New Publication:
"Long Term Cycling Behavior of Titanium Doped NaAlH4 Prepared through Solvent Mediated Milling of NaH and Al with Titanium Dopant Precursors", Sesha S. Srinivasan, Hendrik W. Brinks, Bjorn C. Hauback, Dalin Sun and Craig M. Jensen, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 2004 377, 283.
October 1, 2004
ACSSA news. The American Chemical Society Student Affiliate chapter at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been selected to receive an Honorable Mention award for its chapter activities conducted during the 2003-2004 academic year. This marks the fifth year in a row that our ACSSA chapter has been nationally recognized for its work. Congratulations to last year¹s president, Kristine Ito-Smith, and the other members for another successful year. J. Smith
Craig Jensen presented an invited lecture at the 2004 International Symposium on Metal-Hydrogen Systems in Crakow, Poland, September 6-10 and was elected chairman of the 2006 meeting. He also presented a "Marum colloquim" at Leiden University on September 14 and an invited talk at Utrecht University on September 15.
More ACSSA news. This year's ACSSA group has already been active in fund raising, and they are planning an activity for National Chemistry Week later in October. Stay tuned. Don¹t forget that ACSSA tee shirt orders are due today. J. Smith October 8, 2004
For two-year terms, Prof. Yang Kim (Seff, 1978) has been elected President, and Prof. Nam Ho Heo (Seff, 1987) General Secretary, of the Korean Zeolite Association.
New Publication:
D. Sillars, C.J. Bennett, Y. Osamura, R.I. Kaiser, First infrared spectroscopic characterization of the disilyl (Si2H5) and d5-disilyl (Si2D5) radicals in low temperature silane matrices, Chem. Phys. 305, 143-153 (2004).
October 29, 2004
Good news on a new grant through the Center for Marine Ecology and Diversity (CMED) (aka "Son of MarBEC") from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Three years (09/01/04-08/31/07), $766,692. About half of that for support of work in the Hemscheidt lab for "Discovery of Pharmaceutical Lead Compounds from Marine Organisms in Sediments".
Craig Jensen presented an invited talk at the 'Materials Challenges for the Hydrogen Economy" symposium at the American Society for Materials meeting in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 18-20.
The UH Manoa ACS Student Affiliate chapter is holding a fundraiser (dubbed "Stick" Day) on Friday afternoon October 29 in the front of Bilger. You can support the local chapter by purchasing one the "sticks" they have on sale: beef jerky, red vines, lollipops, and other goodies. J. Smith
New publications:
Yingbin Ge and John D. Head, "Fast Global Optimization of Si_xH_y Clusters: New Mutation Pperators in the Cluster Genetic Algorithm," Chem. Phys. Lett., 2004, 398, 107-112.
P. Wang and C. M. Jensen, "Preparation of Ti-doped Sodium Aluminum Hydride from Mechanical Milling of NaH/Al with Off-the-Shelf Ti Power," J. Phys. Chem. B., 2004, 108, 15829.
P. Wang and C. M. Jensen, "Method for Preparing Ti-doped NaAlH4 using Ti powder: Observation of Unusual Reversible Dehydrogenation Behavior," J. Alloys and Compd., 2004, 379, 99.
G. Krishnamoorthy, S. Schieffer, S. Shevyakov, A. E. Asato, K. Wong, J. Head and R. S. H. Liu, "s-cis-Conformers in Low-Temperature Irradiation of Dienes: Hula-twist Mechanism of Isomerization," Res. Chem. Intermed., 2004, 30, 397-405.
G.H. Jeong, Y. Kim, and K. Seff, "Crystal Structure of a Methylamine Sorption Complex of Dehydrated Fully Ca2+-Exchanged Zeolite X, Ca46(CH3NH2)16|[Si100Al92O384]-FAU," Langmuir, 2004, 20, 9354-9359.
November 5, 2004
Thanks to Mike Burger who came in Saturday night and to Clyde Kaneshiro who came in Sunday afternoon to help deal with the consequences of the flood. Thanks also to Ralf Kaiser and Katja Michael who alerted me to the problem on Saturday night, and to Tom Hemscheidt who has taken responsibility for dry ice distribution. Roger Cramer
Chronology of Flood Events at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
At approximately 8:00 p.m. Saturday, October 30th, a flash flood ripped through the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. Upper Manoa Valley had received about 9 inches of rain in a 6 hour period which washed trees and debris into Manoa Stream, forming a dam under the Woodlawn Bridge near Manoa Marketplace. Flood waters flowed down Woodlawn past the Institute for Astronomy, through the Noelani School and Mid-Pacific Institute campuses, and eventually a four foot high wall of water hit the Biomedical Sciences building on the Manoa campus.
Along with Biomed, the physical plant (Auxiliary Services) buildings, the PBRC, Ag Sciences III and an adjoining warehouse were flooded. The Institute for Biogenesis research and first floor of Biomed were inundated with water - over the tops of lab benches - and the auditorium flooded. The main transformer blew at that point melting the main electrical supply cable to the electrical substation, and setting off sprinklers on the first floor. Power to four circuits on campus affecting 35 buildings went out at that point.
Pope Lab, Sherman Lab and St. John Plant Science Lab were next in the path; flooding on Maile Way threw cars across the median and deposited mud in its path. Hamilton Library Phases I and II were hit next. Their ground floor facilities - housing map and photo collections, the government documents repository, and the Library and Information Science offices and classrooms were completely flooded to the ceilings, tearing out walls and wiring and destroying the collections, books and periodicals housed there. The library's subbasement - where mechanical and electrical equipment was located - was submerged.
In the worst parts of the flood path the landscape was gouged out and large holes were tunneled into the ground. The flood proceeded to inundate Gilmore, Edmondson and Snyder, flowing across McCarthy Mall to next hit the first floor of Keller (where the university's server and IT services are located), Bilger Hall and Physical Sciences. Damage to the power grid and Keller knocked out our IT capabilities – including all email and Web information services. They were restored within several hours with the use of an external electrical generator.
Next in the path of mud and water were HIG, Sakamaki, the Art Building, the John Young Museum and Krauss Hall where a number of teaching facilities were impacted. The flood waters crossed Dole Street, carrying debris and remnants of the library collections into the parking structure and the athletics facility where it knocked out a generator, and created significant water damage to a second-floor practice gym, Klum Gym, first floor offices, locker rooms, study areas and the weight room and hospitality suite at Stan Sheriff Center. Flood waters and mud spread across portions of Cooke Field.
Power was also lost to a number of dorms, but was restored by 11:00 p.m. in all but two upper campus dorms which received emergency generator power the following day. Elevator service to dorms was also restored by the next day. The Kanewai Cultural Garden at the Center for Hawaiian Studies was also flooded, with potential loss of several taro species.
In all, power was interrupted to 35 buildings, with Agricultural Sciences III, Biomedical Sciences, Sherman Lab and Hamilton Library sustaining enough infrastructure damage to require isolation from the main electrical circuits before the rest of the campus could be powered up again.
On Sunday, October 31, management team meetings were held every three hours to address immediate emergency and repair situations. Critical research and animal care areas were of paramount concern, while 3,000 pounds of dry ice was distributed to preserve samples and other materials that needed to be kept cold or frozen. The quick response of faculty and administration helped to stabilize the campus, limit losses and restore operations in a timely fashion. Cleanup proceeded with faculty, students and community volunteers all pitching in. Library collections were placed in freezer trucks supplied by Matson and Horizon Lines, so they could be preserved. Humidity problems and mold blooms were addressed by removing wet and muddy carpet and with dehumidifiers and fans, but these had limited effectiveness in buildings that lacked power and air conditioning.
Plans were developed to relocate classes from chronically affected facilities and by Wednesday morning, November 3, power was restored to all but five buildings, allowing 99+% of classes to resume on Thursday. More than 120 classes from the five most impacted buildings were relocated and schedules were posted on the Web for public access. By Friday, November 5, 100% of classes had been scheduled for the duration of the semester.
Temporary offices and accommodations for research faculty at alternate sites are currently a high priority while plans to restore the operational environment are ongoing. Mold has been a continuing problem with abatement a high priority in areas that did not receive high priority during the immediate recovery. Rains the following weekend knocked power out again, requiring further emergency services for research areas, and emergency generation for several facilities on campus.
A specialist disaster remediation team was hired over the November 6-7 weekend to help reduce humidity and conduct an intensive cleanup in four power-isolated buildings. The spirit of aloha is alive and well on campus, as units that were little impacted continue to offer space and support to colleagues from the most affected units. To everyone in the security team, facilities team, administrative leadership team, faculty, staff, students and volunteers who helped get the campus back up and running, mahalo nui loa.
November 19, 2004
Craig Jensen presented an invited lecture at the symposium on Hydrogen Absorbing Materials at the 5th Pacific Rim International Conference on Advanced Materials and Processing, Beijing, China, November 2-5. Following the conference he also gave invited lectures at Nankai University, Tainjin and Fudan University, Shanghai (hosted by former postdoc, Professor Dalin Sun).
The Reaction Dynamics & Astrochemistry group is currently being featured in the November 22 issue of Chemical Engineering News. R. Kaiser
Yang Kim (Pusan National University; Ph.D. (Seff, 1978)) has been elected to the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.
January 14, 2005
Craig Jensen presented invited talks at Cornell University on November 30 and the symposium on Materials for Hydrogen Storage at the Materials Research Society meeting in Boston, MA December 1.
During January 4-10, Professor Robert Liu went to Taiwan and gave an invited lecture at the Asain Photochemistry Conference.
New Publications:
S. Schieffer, J. Pescatore, R. Ulsh and R. S. H. Liu, "Regioselective Hula-twist Photoisomerization of Cinnamate Esters in Organic Glass," Chem. Commun., 2680-2681 (2004).
G. Krishnamoorthy, S. Schieffer, J. Pescatore, R. S. H. Liu and J. Liu, "Photoreactions of Cisoid 1,4-Diphenyl-1,3-butadienes. Direct Irradiation in Solution and in Low Temperature Organic Glass," Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 3, 1047-1051 (2004)
January 28, 2005
Ralf Kaiser's lab received a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to conduct experiments in organoboron chemistry on the molecular level. The project investigates the role and energetics of organoboron species in rocket propulsion systems and chemical vapor deposition processes.
Craig Jensen and Zhaohui Wang attended the Hydrocarbon Resources Gordon Research Conference on Jan. 9-14 2005 in Ventura, CA. Jensen presented an invited talk about the group's recent research on hydrogen storage materials and Wang presented a poster on "pincer" catalyzed functionalization of hydrocarbons.
Fund raiser. The ACS Student Affiliate is selling Zippys chili tickets. The tickets cost $6.00 and can be used at any Zippys for regular or vegetarian chili. Jan Smith has tickets for sale, as do all the chem club members. Contact Kelly Terada, club president, if you want more information or if you would like to support the club by selling tickets yourself.
New publication:
"Point Defect Dynamics and Evolution of Chemical Reactions in Alanates by Anelastic Spectroscopy". Oriele Palumbo, Rosario Cantelli, Annalisa Paolone, Sesha S. Srinivasan, and Craig M. Jensen; J. Phys. Chem. B. 2005, 109, 1168.
February 4, 2005
A new organic text has just appeared: Organic Chemistry by Janice Gorzynski Smith Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education Congratulations, Jan! Nice job. I shall leave my copy of the well illustrated text (with a Hawaiian touch on the front cover) in the mail room for a few days for anyone who wish to take a look. R. Liu
New publication:
C.M. Andrei, J. Walmsley, H.W. Brinks, R. Homestad, S.S. Srinivasan, C.M. Jensen, B.C. Hauback, "Electron Microscopy Studies of NaAlH4 Doped with TiF3: Hydrogen Cycling Effects," Appl. Phys. A. 2005, 80, 709.
February 11, 2005
The message below is forwarded on behalf of the family of the late Dave Kempton. The memorial service will be on February 22. T. Bopp
Dear Family and Friends:
It is with great sorrow that I announce the passing of my father, David Kempton. He died early in the morning on Tuesday, Feb. 1st after a long battle with prostate cancer, and more recently with emphysema. He had just turned 83. He is survived by his wife of twenty-one years, Sharon Cheng-Kempton, his three sons, Steven, Curtis and Scott and a daughter, Donna Roe. In keeping with his giving nature, he donated his body to science at the University of Hawaii. There will be a Memorial service at The First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, 2500 Pali Highway on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd at 5:00PM. His former minister, the Rev. Gene Bridges, will conduct the proceedings. In keeping with Dad's light-hearted nature, this will be an upbeat celebration of his life. You are invited to attend the ceremony in person as your schedule and finances permit. However, if you are unable to attend, please send any special thoughts or memories you may have about Dad to me, and I will ensure that they are shared with those in attendance.
Sincerely, Scott Kempton, 808-265-7188, 4206-4 Keanu St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96816 s_kempton@yahoo.com
New publication:
S. Gomes, G. Renaudin, H. Hagemann, K. Yvon, M.P. Sulic, and C.M. Jensen, "Effects of Milling, Doping and Cycling of NaAlH4 Studied by Vibration Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction." J. Alloys and Compd. 2005 390, 305.
March 18, 2005
The governing board of the American Crystallographic Association has voted to hold The 2006 Annual Meeting of the ACA at the Sheraton Waikiki. Charles Simmons and Karl Seff will be the local chairs. These meetings are usually held in June.
Craig Jensen attended the International Energy Agency's Hydrogen Storage Expert's Workshop on February 14-17 at the Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
New Publications:
H.F. Su, R.I. Kaiser, A.H.H. Chang, "A theoretical study for the reaction of vinyl cyanide C2H3CN(X1A’) with ground state carbon atoms C(3P) in molecular clouds," J. Chem. Phys., 122, 074320 (2005).
H.F. Su, R.I. Kaiser, A.H.H. Chang, "A theoretical study for the reaction of vinyl cyanide C2H3CN(X1A’) with ground state carbon atoms C(3P) in molecular clouds," J. Chem. Phys., 122, 074320/1-22 (2005).
C.J. Bennett, D. Sillars, Y. Osamura, R.I. Kaiser, "Infrared spectroscopic identification of the methylsilylidyne (SiCH3, X2A’’) and the silenyl (H2CSiH, X2A’) radicals together with their partially deuterated counterparts in methane-silane matrices," Chem. Phys. Lett., 404, 327-335 (2005).
L-Y. Yang, R. S. H. Liu, K. J. Boarman, N. L. Wendt and J. Liu, "New Aspects of Diphenylbutadiene Photochemistry. Regiospecific Hula-Twist Photoisomserization," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 2404-2405 (2005).
R. S. H. Liu, ""You're Repulsive!" - Teaching VSEPR in a Not-So-Elegant Way," J. Chem. Ed., 82, 558-560 (2005).
April 1, 2005
Meredith Kuba and Craig Jensen attended the American Physical Society meeting in Los Angeles, CA and presented talks in the focus section on Hydrogen Storage on March 23.
April 8, 2005
Karl Seff visited Korea during Spring Break and presented a seminar at Sogang University in Seoul entitled, "The Intrazeolitic Disproportionation of Sulfur and Iodine."
New Publications:
R.I. Kaiser, Y. Osamura, Infrared Spectroscopic Studies of Hydrogenated Silicon Clusters - Guiding the Search for Si2Hx Species in the Circumstellar Envelope of IRC+10216, Astronomy & Astrophysics 432 559-566 (2005).
Y.M. Lee, Y. Kim, and K. Seff, "Crystal Structures of the NO and N2O4 Sorption Complexes of Fully Dehydrated Fully Cd2+-Exchanged Zeolite X (FAU). Coordination of Neutral NO and N2O4 to Cd2+," J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 4900-4908.
April 15, 2005
Ralf Kaiser attended an NSF Astronomy Panel Meeting (Interstellar Medium) at the National Science Foundation in D.C.
New Publication:
N. Balucani, R.I. Kaiser, Cyanoalkynes and Cyanopolyynes: from Crossed Beam Experiments to Astrochemistry, in: Polyynes: Synthesis, Properties