Research
Quantum chemistry--the computational application of quantum mechanics to molecules--is a powerful tool for discovering the mechanisms of chemical reactions. Computational methods are especially powerful for studying the properties of short-lived intermediates that cannot be easily studied directly by experiment.
My students and I use quantum chemistry and statistical rate theory to explore some of the many reactions taking place in the atmosphere and in the laboratory:
Macalester physics professor Jim Doyle, physics major Rachel Erickson ('01), and I constructed a model for the behavior of metal atoms sputtered in semiconductor preparation. The paper was published in the journal Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B.
In an ongoing collaboration with Macalester chemist Paul Fischer, Pete Dillon ('04) studied isomerism in organometallic compounds.
Erin Petersen ('05) completed a study of peroxy radical reactions accepted for publication in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A.
Luke Valin ('05) and Erin Petersen ('05) contributed to this paper on vinoxy radical oxidation in the atmosphere in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A.
A complete list of publications may be found here.
Last modified 17 November 2005