Chemistry with Relativity: Einflüsse relativistischer Effekte auf die Chemie schwerer Elemente

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Anja-Verena Mudring
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis
• Term: from 2004 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5445587

In the past years the foundations for a thorough theoretical treatment of relativistic effects in chemistry have been laid. In contrast, the experimental work lacks well behind the developments in theoretical chemistry, and except for gold no systematic studies are available for other 5 and 6 row elements. In order to close this gap the experimental studies need to be extended in a systematic way onto other heavy elements than gold. To fully evaluate the impact of relativity in chemistry, experiment and theory shall be combined in this research proposal in a unique way. This, finally, should lead to a more general understanding how relativity affects chemistry. "Chemistry with relativity" means to investigate to what extent valence orbital energies shift, how this affects the ability of elements to form compounds, influences the compound properties and how general trends, tendencies and thumb rules in chemistry get violated. Problems to be investigated include d-s-p-orbital energy separation (thallium), p-level splitting (bismuth) and metal-metal interactions in complexes and extended structures (transition and main group metals). New materials are studied with respect to their chemical and physical properties. Theoretical studies will be carried out to interpret these properties and investigate the influence of relativity.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Major Instrumentation: Wärmestrom-Differenz-Kalorimeter
• Instrumentation Group: 8660 Thermoanalysegeräte (DTA, DTG), Dilatometer