1. Equilibrium Studies of Self-Assembly Events
Douglas A. Vander Griend, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
Four ligand molecules (above) and four copper cations are suitable for forming a square grid complex like that shadowed below. But what happens as the 2 components are slowly added together in solution? Now we know. From ‘snapshots’ taken throughout the mixing, we have obtained the relative stability and spectroscopic signature of each intermediate, all without having chemically isolated any of them! Now on to more complicated structures.