One-dimensional models for organic magnetic materials

In the preparation of small organic paramagnets, these structures may conceptually be divided into spin-containing units (SCs) and ferromagnetic coupling units (FCs). The synthesis and direct observation of a series of hydrocarbon tetraradicals designed to test the ferromagnetic coupling ability of m-phenylene, 1,3-cyclobutane, 1,3- cyclopentane, and 2,4-adamantane (a chair 1,3-cyclohexane) using Berson TMMs and cyclobutanediyls as SCs are described. While 1,3-cyclobutane and m-phenylene are good ferromagnetic coupling units under these conditions, the ferromagnetic coupling ability of 1,3-cyclopentane is poor, and 1,3-cyclohexane is apparently an antiferromagnetic coupling unit. In addition, this is the first report of ferromagnetic coupling between the spins of localized biradical SCs.

The poor coupling of 1,3-cyclopentane has enabled a study of the variable temperature behavior of a 1,3-cyclopentane FC-based tetraradical in its triplet state. Through fitting the observed data to the usual Boltzman statistics, we have been able to determine the separation of the ground quintet and excited triplet states. From this data, we have inferred the singlet-triplet gap in 1,3-cyclopentanediyl to be 900 cal/mol, in remarkable agreement with theoretical predictions of this number.

The ability to simulate EPR spectra has been crucial to the assignments made here. A powder EPR simulation package is described that uses the Zeeman and dipolar terms to calculate powder EPR spectra for triplet and quintet states.

Methods for characterizing paramagnetic samples by SQUID magnetometry have been developed, including robust routines for data fitting and analysis. A precursor to a potentially magnetic polymer was prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), and doped samples of this polymer were studied by magnetometry. While the present results are not positive, calculations have suggested modifications in this structure which should lead to the desired behavior.

Source listings for all computer programs are given in the appendix.

Structure, chemistry, and energetics of organic and inorganic adsorbates on Ga-rich GaAs and GaP(001) surfaces

The work described in this dissertation includes fundamental investigations into three surface processes, namely inorganic film growth, water-induced oxidation, and organic functionalization/passivation, on the GaP and GaAs(001) surfaces. The techniques used to carry out this work include scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Atomic structure, electronic structure, reaction mechanisms, and energetics related to these surface processes are discussed at atomic or molecular levels.

First, we investigate epitaxial Zn₃P₂ films grown on the Ga-rich GaAs(001)(6×6) surface. The film growth mechanism, electronic properties, and atomic structure of the Zn₃P₂/GaAs(001) system are discussed based on experimental and theoretical observations. We discover that a P-rich amorphous layer covers the crystalline Zn3P2 film during and after growth. We also propose more accurate picture of the GaP interfacial layer between Zn₃P₂ and GaAs, based on the atomic structure, chemical bonding, band diagram, and P-replacement energetics, than was previously anticipated.

Second, DFT calculations are carried out in order to understand water-induced oxidation mechanisms on the Ga-rich GaP(001)(2×4) surface. Structural and energetic information of every step in the gaseous water-induced GaP oxidation reactions are elucidated at the atomic level in great detail. We explore all reasonable ground states involved in most of the possible adsorption and decomposition pathways. We also investigate structures and energies of the transition states in the first hydrogen dissociation of a water molecule on the (2×4) surface.

Finally, adsorption structures and thermal decomposition reactions of 1-propanethiol on the Ga-rich GaP(001)(2×4) surface are investigated using high resolution STM, XPS, and DFT simulations. We elucidate adsorption locations and their associated atomic structures of a single 1-propanethiol molecule on the (2×4) surface as a function of annealing temperature. DFT calculations are carried out to optimize ground state structures and search transition states. XPS is used to investigate variations of the chemical bonding nature and coverage of the adsorbate species.

Synthesis and characterization of high-spin organic materials: prototypes for the polaronic ferromagnet

The design, synthesis and magnetic characterization of thiophene-based models for the polaronic ferromagnet are described. Synthetic strategies employing Wittig and Suzuki coupling were employed to produce polymers with extended π-systems. Oxidative doping using AsF_5 or I_2 produces radical cations (polarons) that are stable at room temperature. Magnetic characterization of the doped polymers, using SQUID-based magnetometry, indicates that in several instances ferromagnetic coupling of polarons occurs along the polymer chain. An investigation of the influence of polaron stability and delocalization on the magnitude of ferromagnetic coupling is pursued. A lower limit for mild, solution phase I_2 doping is established. A comparison of the variable temperature data of various polymers reveals that deleterious antiferromagnetic interactions are relatively insensitive to spin concentration, doping protocols or spin state. Comparison of the various polymers reveals useful design principles and suggests new directions for the development of magnetic organic materials. Novel strategies for solubilizing neutral polymeric materials in polar solvents are investigated.

The incorporation of stable bipyridinium spin-containing units into a polymeric high-spin array is explored. Preliminary results suggest that substituted diquat derivatives may serve as stable spin-containing units for the polaronic ferromagnet and are amenable to electrochemical doping. Synthetic efforts to prepare high-spin polymeric materials using viologens as a spin source have been unsuccessful.

Studies of ambient organic and inorganic aerosol in Southern California

The negative impacts of ambient aerosol particles, or particulate matter (PM), on human health and climate are well recognized. However, owing to the complexity of aerosol particle formation and chemical evolution, emissions control strategies remain difficult to develop in a cost effective manner. In this work, three studies are presented to address several key issues currently stymieing California's efforts to continue improving its air quality.

Gas-phase organic mass (GPOM) and CO emission factors are used in conjunction with measured enhancements in oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) relative to CO to quantify the significant lack of closure between expected and observed organic aerosol concentrations attributable to fossil-fuel emissions. Two possible conclusions emerge from the analysis to yield consistency with the ambient organic data: (1) vehicular emissions are not a dominant source of anthropogenic fossil SOA in the Los Angeles Basin, or (2) the ambient SOA mass yields used to determine the SOA formation potential of vehicular emissions are substantially higher than those derived from laboratory chamber studies. Additional laboratory chamber studies confirm that, owing to vapor-phase wall loss, the SOA mass yields currently used in virtually all 3D chemical transport models are biased low by as much as a factor of 4. Furthermore, predictions from the Statistical Oxidation Model suggest that this bias could be as high as a factor of 8 if the influence of the chamber walls could be removed entirely.

Once vapor-phase wall loss has been accounted for in a new suite of laboratory chamber experiments, the SOA parameterizations within atmospheric chemical transport models should also be updated. To address the numerical challenges of implementing the next generation of SOA models in atmospheric chemical transport models, a novel mathematical framework, termed the Moment Method, is designed and presented. Assessment of the Moment Method strengths and weaknesses provide valuable insight that can guide future development of SOA modules for atmospheric CTMs.

Finally, regional inorganic aerosol formation and evolution is investigated via detailed comparison of predictions from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ version 4.7.1) model against a suite of airborne and ground-based meteorological measurements, gas- and aerosol-phase inorganic measurements, and black carbon (BC) measurements over Southern California during the CalNex field campaign in May/June 2010. Results suggests that continuing to target sulfur emissions with the hopes of reducing ambient PM concentrations may not the most effective strategy for Southern California. Instead, targeting dairy emissions is likely to be an effective strategy for substantially reducing ammonium nitrate concentrations in the eastern part of the Los Angeles Basin.

Imidazolium-Based Organic Structure Directing Agents for the Synthesis of Microporous Materials

The central theme of this thesis is the use of imidazolium-based organic structure directing agents (OSDAs) in microporous materials synthesis. Imidazoliums are advantageous OSDAs as they are relatively inexpensive and simple to prepare, show robust stability under microporous material synthesis conditions, have led to a wide range of products, and have many permutations in structure that can be explored. The work I present involves the use of mono-, di-, and triquaternary imidazolium-based OSDAs in a wide variety of microporous material syntheses. Much of this work was motivated by successful computational predictions (Chapter 2) that led me to continue to explore these types of OSDAs. Some of the important discoveries with these OSDAs include the following: 1) Experimental evaluation and confirmation of a computational method that predicted a new OSDA for pure-silica STW, a desired framework containing helical pores that was previously very difficult to synthesize. 2) Discovery of a number of new imidazolium OSDAs to synthesize zeolite RTH, a zeolite desired for both the methanol-to-olefins reaction as well as NOX reduction in exhaust gases. This discovery enables the use of RTH for many additional investigations as the previous OSDA used to make this framework was difficult to synthesize, such that no large scale preparations would be practical. 3) The synthesis of pure-silica RTH by topotactic condensation from a layered precursor (denoted CIT-10), that can also be pillared to make a new framework material with an expanded pore system, denoted CIT-11, that can be calcined to form a new microporous material, denoted CIT-12. CIT-10 is also interesting since it is the first layered material to contain 8 membered rings through the layers, making it potentially useful in separations if delamination methods can be developed. 4) The synthesis of a new microporous material, denoted CIT-7 (framework code CSV) that contains a 2-dimensional system of 8 and 10 membered rings with a large cage at channel intersections. This material is especially important since it can be synthesized as a pure-silica framework under low-water, fluoride-mediated synthesis conditions, and as an aluminosilicate material under hydroxide mediated conditions. 5) The synthesis of high-silica heulandite (HEU) by topotactic condensation as well as direct synthesis, demonstrating new, more hydrothermally stable compositions of a previously known framework. 6) The synthesis of germanosilicate and aluminophosphate LTA using a triquaternary OSDA. All of these materials show the diverse range of products that can be formed from OSDAs that can be prepared by straightforward syntheses and have made many of these materials accessible for the first time under facile zeolite synthesis conditions.