My research involves the determination of molecu lar structures by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.
Current projects are collaborative with groups doing synthetic and spectroscopic work.
One area involves structural studies aimed at understanding the principles governing geometry and ligand site preference in pentacoordinate silicon and phosphorus compounds, as well as the nature of the fluxional behavior of these species. A knowledge of the structure of these compounds is important in understanding possible reaction intermediates or activated states in the nucleophilic displacement reactions of important tetracoordinate silicon and phosphorus species. For example, the structures of a variety of cyclic oxyphosphoranes which serve as models for reactions involving cyclic AMP are currently under investigation. Another area involves the products of the hydrolytic condensation of monoorganotin IV esters. The chemistry of these species has proven to be unpredictable and complex and has already led to the discovery of several classes of novel cluster compounds, the natures of which have only been determined unambiguously by crystal structure analysis.