Gary Guillet
Furman University, SC·Chemistry
When metal atoms sit close enough together, they can bond directly to one another, and these metal–metal bonds shape a molecule's properties, including its magnetism. Extended metal atom chains (EMACs) are compounds that hold metal atoms in a short line.
- Fields
Chemistry
- Topics
extended metal atom chains
metal-metal bonding
iron
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Test whether ligands built on a C3-symmetric scaffold, which holds all the metal-binding atoms in one molecule, stabilize three-atom iron and cobalt chain (EMAC) complexes better than three separate bulky bridging ligands.
- Synthesize scaffolded ligands by aminating 2,6-dibromopyridine and attaching it to a scaffold molecule, then form trimetallic iron and cobalt complexes through lithiation and transmetallation steps.
- Probe the nature of metal–metal bonding and high-spin magnetic ground states in the new complexes by comparing experimental measurements with density functional theory and multiconfigurational wavefunction calculations.
More about the research
Here the chain is three iron or cobalt atoms. These compounds are useful test cases for understanding how metals interact and whether properties such as magnetism can be designed on purpose. The difficulty is that the most interesting high-spin forms, in which many unpaired electrons give strong magnetism, need metals with few surrounding atoms, and such compounds tend to be unstable.
Why it matters
This work aims to explain how direct metal–metal bonds form and what produces high-spin magnetic states. A library of more stable iron and cobalt chain compounds could eventually inform the rational design of molecules whose magnetic properties can be predicted and controlled.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Matthew Whited
Carleton College, MN·Chemistry
Develop late-metal complexes with metal–silicon single and multiple bonds that transfer reactive nitrene and carbene groups (short-lived nitrogen and carbon fragments) onto organic substrates.
Christopher Graves
Swarthmore College, PA·Chemistry
Synthesize group 13 metal complexes (boron, aluminum, gallium, indium) of tripodal nitroxide ligands, (RTriNOx3–)M, with systematically varied electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents.
Farnaz Shakib
New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ·Chemistry
Build a database of electrically conductive, magnetically bi-stable coordination polymers by inserting conjugated pillar ligands into conductive frameworks from the EC-MOF/Phase I database, using the group's CrySP Python package and density functional theory (DFT).
The school
Furman University: 3 labs on PI Pages.
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