We have been awarded $394,638 by the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation for a three-year project titled, “Kinetic and Mechanistic Studies of Criegee Intermediate reactivity.” The project is part of the Environmental Chemical Sciences program. We will use laser flash photolysis and broadband transient absorption spectroscopy to measure temperature-dependent rate constants of Criegee intermediate reactions with trace atmospheric gases. Specifically, we will study Criegee intermediate reactions with multifunctional volatile organic compounds, radical species, and explore the influence of humidity on reactivity. A new outreach program will establish air quality and weather monitoring stations at local high schools.

We have been awarded $396,693 by the Chemistry Divison of the National Science Foundation for a three-year project titled, “Unravelling Unconventional photochemistry using time- and state-resolved imaging.” The grant will support our fundamental photochemistry research, in which we use velocity-map ion imaging to explore ‘unusual’ photochemical mechanisms in small molecules.

We have been awarded a New Directions grant from the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund. The $110,000 award will provide seed funding for a new project titled, “Vibrational Pre-Reactivity: Exploiting Complexes to Probe Reactive Resonances.” We will combine molecular beam techniques with velocity-map ion imaging to study the dynamics of vibrational pre-reaction in atom-molecule van der Waals complexes.