
NSF Org: |
CHE Division Of Chemistry |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | March 29, 2022 |
Latest Amendment Date: | March 29, 2022 |
Award Number: | 2154787 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Samy El-Shall
selshall@nsf.gov (703)292-7416 CHE Division Of Chemistry MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Start Date: | July 1, 2022 |
End Date: | June 30, 2026 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $550,000.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $550,000.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3227 CHEADLE HALL SANTA BARBARA CA US 93106-0001 (805)893-4188 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
Department of Chemistry and Bioc Santa Barbara CA US 93106-9510 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | CSD-Chem Strcture and Dynamics |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
In this project, funded by the Chemical Structure Dynamics and Mechanisms A (CSDM-A) program of the Chemistry Division, Professor de Vries at the University of California Santa Barbara will study how heterocyclic compounds respond to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Such compounds form the basic structure of DNA bases as well as many other important molecules and their response to light plays a role in many practical processes. For example, the photochemistry following UV absorption constitutes a fundamental step in radiation-induced DNA damage. UV photo-selection may have played a key role in prebiotic chemistry on an early earth. These same processes also find applications in a variety of modern materials. These topics, in combination with cutting-edge laser and computational techniques, lend themselves to outreach activities that will be based on this work. Both undergraduate and graduate students will receive training in the design and construction of advanced experimental instrumentation, complex computer simulation, and conducting fundamental research. This work will be carried out in collaboration with scientists at Jackson State University, an HBCU. Professor De Vries and members of his group will serve as mentors in various programs aimed at broadening participation of members of underrepresented groups in STEM.
The precise effects of UV radiation depend critically on molecular structure and the fundamental photochemistry is affected by interactions with other molecules. The laboratory of Professor de Vries at UCSB will study fundamental photoproperties of heterocyclic compounds and clusters containing them experimentally by gas phase spectroscopy and collaborate with computational chemists to compare the results with quantum chemical modeling. The experiments will investigate how pi-stacking and hydrogen bonding affect the excited state potential energy landscape of heterocyclic compounds and how that changes the photochemical outcomes. The project will study these molecular systems in the picosecond and nanosecond time domains and model the results with high level quantum computations.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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