Research/Areas of Interest
Physical Organic Chemistry. Research interests include use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in studies of the stereochemistry and conformations of organic molecules, computer applications in teaching and research, and organic synthesis. Projects have included the study of nonchair conformations of cyclohexane derivatives, the influence of electrostatic interactions among polar groups upon conformational equilibria, and conformational studies of molecules of biological interest. Much of this work required the synthesis of organic compounds with deuterium and carbon-13 at specific locations for use in the determination of NMR coupling constants and relaxation times, and are interpreted in terms of conformational equilibria. Experimental conformational energies were also compared with those calculated by use of the methods of computational chemistry. Other projects have involved the use of computers in teaching organic chemistry. The most ambitious of these projects was designed to develop an interactive computer program for teaching of organic synthesis.
Education
- BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States, 1953
- PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, United States, 1956