Recent experimental work in our laboratory has shown that the rate of some reactions can increase by up to two orders of magnitude as a consequence of making nuclei distinguishable by isotopic substitution. Our experimental studies in this area have focused on ion-molecule reactions with kinetic isotope effects being measured mass spectrometrically. The complementing roles of theory and experiment in this area has been excellent with theory suggesting new experiments and experiments indicated how the theoretical model should be modified. A second area of research involves various neutralized ion beam experiments, a novel mass spectrometric approach whereby highly reactive, transient molecules can be produced in a beam mode by the neutralization of an appropriate precursor molecule. Currently, this technique is being used to study radical intermediates in the atmospheric reactions of nitrogen and sulfur containing containing compounds.
Computational chemistry constitutes a third general area of on-going research.
Because there is little or no experimental information available for many of the chemical species under investigation, valuable insight is provided by is provided by ab initio calculations. Other studies, such as work on the polyiodide anions is independent of the experimental program. Symmetry Induced Kinetic Isotope Effects in Ion-Molecule Reactions, G. 1. An Explanation for Symmetry Induced Isotopic Fractionation in Ozone, G. 1. Ab Initio Calculations of the Ground State of Polyiodide Anions, S. B. Sharp and G. 1.