Computational Chemistry
Joshua Smith
Organometallic Aryne Chemistry
Attempts are being made to synthesize, and, perhaps, directly observe small aryns (e.g., benzyne) bound to the metals facially. These complexes are expected to open new routes to a new class of substituted aromatic metal complexes by reactions with nucleophiles and to allow novel entries into the synthesis of new and interesting bicyclic ring systems after trapping with dienes in situ.
Molecular Electronics
Robert W. Zoellner
Our research interests primarily involve the theoretical and computational modeling of novel, "interesting" compounds using research-quality software packages such as Spartan and Gaussian. For our purpose, "interesting" can be anything from simple aromatic systems, such as pyrrole, to topologically fascinating knots and belts such as trefoil-knotted alkanes and cyclacenes, and to compounds never imagined before, such as our recently-published work on nitratoxycarbons.
