The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in binary solvent systems and determine and/or develop predictive mathematical expressions for describing solutions in which hydrogen-bonding occurs.

The chemistry of transition metal clusters has been a fast developing area of organometallic research in recent years. Compared to mononuclear metal complexes, polynuclear clusters offer more opportunities to study cooperative effects and electron reservoir properties between contiguous metal centers, in addition to functioning as storehouses for the release of catalytically active small fragments capable of exhibiting heterosite subtrate activation. Theoretically, metal clusters are intermediates between mononuclear complexes and metal surfaces, i.e., they serve as a bridge between molecular and solid-state chemistry. Transition metal clusters are ideal candidates to study M-M interactions stretching from the single bond to the collective metallic behavior found in a three-dimensional network of metal atoms. The reaction between the redox-active diphoshpine ligand bpcd and RU(CO) has been examined under a variety of conditions. The disubstituted cluster Ru3(CO)10(bpcd)(2) has been synthesized and shown to contain a chealating bpcd ligand, on the basis of IR and 31P NMR data. The cluster 2 (chelating isomer) undergoes cluster fragmentation at ambient temperatures in the dark to give the binuclear compound 3 and Ru3(CO)12, with no evidence for the formation of 4. Both 3 and 4 have been isolated and fully characterized in solution by IR and NMR spectroscopy, and …

Gas phase kinetics and thermochemistry of several halogenated species relevant to atmospheric, combustion and plasma chemistry were studied using experimental and ab initio theoretical techniques.

Detection of ultratrace levels of metallic ion impurities in hydrofluoric acid solutions and alkaline hydrogen peroxide solution was demonstrated using a silicon-based sensing electrode. The sensor's operation principle is based on direct measurements of the silicon open-circuit potential shift generated by the interaction between metallic ions and the silicon-based sensing surface. The new sensor can have practical applications in the on-line monitoring of microelectronic chemical processing. The detection of Ag+ content in KODAK waste water was carried out successfully by this novel sensor. Trace levels of organic impurities in the hydrofluoric acid solutions and in the cleanroom air were characterized by multiple internal reflection infrared spectroscopy (MIRIS) using an organics probe prepared directly from a regular silicon wafer.