The chemical-properties of rutherfordium (Rf) and its group 4 homologs were studied by sorption on glass support surfaces coated with cobalt(II)ferrocyanide and by solvent extraction with tributylphosphate (TBP) and triisooctylamine (TIOA). The surface studies showed that the hydrolysis trend in the group 4 elements and the pseudogroup 4 element, lb, decreases in the order Rf>Zr{approx}Hf>Th. This trend was attributed to relativistic effects which predicted that Rf would be more prone to having a coordination number of 6 than 8 in most aqueous solutions due to a destabilization of the 6d{sub 5/2} shell and a stabilization of the 7p{sub l/2} shell. This hydrolysis trend was confirmed in the TBP/HBr solvent extraction studies which showed that the extraction trend decreased in the order Zr>Hf>Rf?Ti for HBr, showing that Rf and Ti did not extract as well because they hydrolyzed more easily than Zr and Hf. The TIOA/HF solvent extraction studies showed that the extraction trend for the group 4 elements decreased in the order Ti>Zr{approx}Hf>Rf, in inverse order from the trend of ionic radii Rf>Zr{approx}Hf>Ti. An attempt was made to produce {sup 263}Rf (a) via the {sup 248}Cm({sup 22}Ne, {alpha}3n) reaction employing thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) solvent extraction chemistry and (b) via the {sup …

This dissertation describes recent developments in solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), for the most part involving the use of dynamic-angle spinning (DAS) NMR to study quadrupolar nuclei. Chapter 1 introduces some of the basic concepts and theory that will be referred to in later chapters, such as the density operator, product operators, rotations, coherence transfer pathways, phase cycling, and the various nuclear spin interactions, including the quadrupolar interaction. Chapter 2 describes the theory behind motional averaging experiments, including DAS, which is a technique where a sample is spun sequentially about two axis oriented at different angles with respect to the external magnetic field such that the chemical shift and quadrupolar anisotropy are averaged to zero. Work done on various rubidium-87 salts is presented as a demonstration of DAS. Chapter 3 explains how to remove sidebands from DAS and magic-angle spinning (MAS) experiments, which result from the time-dependence of the Hamiltonian under sample spinning conditions, using rotor-synchronized {pi}-pulses. Data from these experiments, known as DAH-180 and MAH-180, respectively, are presented for both rubidium and lead salts. In addition, the applicability of this technique to double rotation (DOR) experiments is discussed. Chapter 4 concerns the addition of cross-polarization to DAS (CPDAS). …