Honors Theses

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Nathan Hammer

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The restoration of a Cold War era high resolution Raman spectrometer to working order as well as its control and data acquisition upgrade using a Labview program authored for this purpose are discussed. The restored Raman spectrometer was used in an investigation of intermolecular interactions involving pyrimidine. Following in this manuscript are three chapters. The first chapter is a brief description of the history and theory of Raman spectroscopy as well as some details of the instrumentation used in Raman spectroscopy. The second chapter contains technical details of the restoration and upgrade of the high resolution Raman spectrometer. The third chapter contains data and analysis for the investigation of intermolecular interactions involving pyrimidine, including the investigation of weak hydrogen bonds by Raman spectroscopy of liquid and crystalline pyrimidine at varying pressures up to 30000 psi and strong hydrogen bonds in binary mixtures of pyrimidine and seven different molecules. The position of the ν1 peak in the Raman spectrum corresponding to pyrimidine's ring-breathing mode was used as the marker to monitor the degree of hydrogen bonding and species involved. For mixtures of water, other peaks in the Raman spectrum were found to shift as well when the concentration of water is increased.

Accessibility Status

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Chemistry Commons

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