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Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station A5300
Austin, TX 78712-0165
Contact Information
Office: WEL: 4.328
Phone: 471-3288
Lab
Office:
Phone:
Fax: 471-8696
Joseph J. Lagowski
jjl@mail.utexas.edu
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Research GroupChemistry and Chemical Education |
EducationBS, University of Illinois, 1952 MS, University of Michigan, 1954 PhD, Michigan State University, 1957 PhD, Cambridge University, 1959 |
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Awards50 Year Service Award, American Chemical Society, 2005 Outstanding Service Award from the Division of Chemical Education of The American Chemical Society, 2003 Elected member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001 Northeastern Section of The American Chemical Society James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in The Teaching of Chemistry, 1999 Southwest Regional ACS Award, 1996 ACS Award in Chemical Education, sponsored by Union Carbide Corporation, 1989 Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Piper Professor for outstanding scholarly and academic achievement, 1983 Chemical National Manufacturing Association Award for Excellence in Chemistry Teaching, 1981 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1981 Marshall Scholar, H.R.M.'s Brittanic Government , 1959 |
Affiliations
Welch Summer Scholar Program;
Nonaqueous solvents; organometallic chemistry; chemical education
My interests in chemistry at The University are expressed in terms of two broad considerations: conventional bench-oriented chemical research and research in chemical education. Thus, my research group consists of students with these kinds of interests. My chemical research interests include general solution phenomena in non-aqueous solvents and organometallic pi-complexes; electrochemical and spectroscopic methods are widely employed by students working in these areas.
Non-aqueous solution chemistry
The interest in nonaqueous solution chemistry is focused primarily on anhydrous liquid ammonia although we have had interests in amine and ether solvents as well as in molten salts. Earlier work from these laboratories developed acidity scales in liquid ammonia using vis-uv absorption and NMR spectroscopy; in addition, the structure of the pure solvent in relationship to solutions of ionic species has been investigated using infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Recently, the solution species responsible for unusual redox process in liquid ammonia have been investigated. For example, the reactions of the solvated electron as a chemical species is being elucidated. Earlier work in this area revealed the existence of the auride ion (Au-), arising from the reaction of metal-ammonia solutions with elemental gold. This process can also be accomplished electrochemically at a microelectrode using modern cyclic voltammetric techniques. Similar results have been obtained in anhydrous ethylenediamine as a solvent. The initial interest in monoatomic anionic species has been extended to polynuclear mono- and hetero-anions (the Zintl ions) that can be formed by the elements in groups IIIA, IVA, and VA, e.g., T1Sn93-, Sn94-, P73-. Redox transformations (e.g., P73- --> P3) can be studied by cyclic volumetric methods, vis-uv spectroscopy, and spectroelectrochemical techniques. The interest in these systems is not only in the solution species, but also the characteristics of the films formed when Zintl anions are oxidatively discharged. Thus, for example, it is of interest to relate the structure of the phosphorous film formed when P73- and P3- are discharged at a platinum microelectrode to the structures of the known allotropes of phosphorous.
Organometallic chemistry
The basic interest in organometallic chemistry is in the syntheses and the properties of materials. Specifically, we have used metal atom synthesis techniques to prepare a variety of substituted pi-arene chromium complexes; our interests in these compounds include an (electrochemical) elucidation of the electron environment of the metal atom as a function of the arene substitutent. In addition we have used metal atom syntheses to prepare multi-metal, pi-complexes [e.g., bis(pi-arenechromium) pi
Chemical Education
My research in chemical education is currently focused on the improvement of the educational process, both from a teaching and a learning point of view, using techniques involving interactive technology-computing and interactive video. Investigations into the efficacy of using certain computer methods (expressed with microcomputers) on instruction in laboratory courses and in lecture courses are in progress.
Representative Publications
No information for this group.