Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry - Structural and Mechanistic Organic Chemistry

SUNY Stony Brook University

The Department of Chemistry, within the College of Arts and Sciences, offers courses of study leading to the degrees of Master of Arts in Teaching Chemistry, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy. Students in the M.A.T. program must register through the School of Professional Development. A student in the Ph.D. program may choose dissertation research in any one of the diverse areas of chemistry represented by the interests of the program faculty, or may choose an interdisciplinary topic under the guidance of a faculty member in another program. Coordinated activities exist with several programs, and include optional concentrations in chemical physics and chemical biology. The structures of a wide range of organic molecules are examined at Stony Brook using many techniques, including automated high-field FT-NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 19F, etc.) and X-ray crystallography. Molecular modeling programs, such as Gaussian and Macromodel, are operated on color graphics workstations in order to rationalize and predict the conformations and reactivities of molecules under study. Variable-temperature 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy is used to investigate conformational changes in macrocycles and other synthetic hosts for guest metal ions and organic molecules. VT-NMR is also used to investigate proton transfer in polyamines and intermolecular exchange of guest ions between polydentate ligands. Stereochemical probes are used to examine mechanisms of organic reactions such as pericyclic and biomimetic processes. Reaction mechanisms are also studied by determining activation volumes using reactors in the high-pressure laboratory that can attain pressures higher than 200,000 psi.