Our group is broadly interested in a group of inorganic
compounds known as "coordination complexes." In a coordination
complex a bond is formed by an atom or group of atoms (called a "ligand")
donating a pair of electrons to a metal cation. Specifically we are interested
in trying to make new coordination complexes that contain lots of metal
centers (in the form of a metal-organic network structure or discrete
aggregates of metal ions surrounded by organic ligands). Past examples
of these types of reactions are influenced greatly by the type of solvent
they are performed in. We do our reactions a bit differently, though,
by performing the reactions in ionic liquid solvents and using other
non-traditional reaction methods. Ionic liquids
are actually made up of positive and negative ions, just like sodium
chloride, but unlike sodium chloride which melts at a very high temperature,
they are liquids at room temperature. We are using the unusual solvent
environment so that we can hopefully get new products!
Eppley Group News
Kate Ziegelgruber (Chemistry, '08) spent the Fall of
'06 in Professor Chris Cahill's group at the George Washington University
in Washington, DC working on the synthesis of thorium metal-organic frameworks
in hydrothermal systems. I even got a chance to visit because I am on
sabbatical. In addition to a publication from her work with me, she will
also get a publication based on her work with Chris. Kate was also named
as the Student Liaison for planning the undergraduate programming for
upcoming American Chemical Society Meetings (including the one in Chicago
in March). She is the only undergraduate to be selected for this committee!
Congratulations to Kate! More News
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