Education
| 1977-79 | Post Doctoral Felllow, National Research Council of Canada , Stanford University |
| 1977 | Ph.D. , University of Guelph |
| 1972 | B.Sc. , University of Waterloo |
Professional Experience
| 1986 - 1987 | Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Universitat Frankfurt |
One of the most exciting topics in modern chemistry is the possibility of creating nano-devices such as molecular computers. Already there are molecules which can operate as transistors, resistors, diodes, motors and molecular switches which may be activated by temperature, pressure or electro-magnetic radiation. Tying these devices together will require some sort of molecular wires. Many groups worldwide are working on this problem. It is necessary to prepare some sort of polymer and this usually results in making large numbers of molecules having different lengths controlled by a binomial distribution (Bell curve). Our approach allows the preparation of long wires of uniform length and in addition allows us to make wires which are bent to any desired angle. This project requires students to be skilled in both organic and inorganic synthesis. Other students are studying the properties of these wires using electronic and infrared spectroscopy, nmr and mass spectrometry techniques and electrochemistry. Several of our molecules are candidates for collaborative studies with Professor Leblanc's group in Langmuir-Blodgett techniques and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.
Publications
Nita A. Lewis and Wei Pan The Influence of Side-chains on Electronic Coupling between Metal Centers in Simple Model Systems 224434 (Inorganic Chemistry. 1995). [Link]
Nita A. Lewis, Richard R. McNeer and Daniel V. Taveras The Use of Pressure-tuning Spectroscopy to Distinguish between One and Two Electron Transfer Processes 89-93225 (Inorganica Chimica Acta. 1994). [Link]
Gouram K. Patra, Nita A. Lewis and Dipankar Datta Use of barbituric acid as a "padlock" to generate an azamacrocyclic complex of Ni(II) containing fused aromatic rings 985-99038A (submitted to Inorganic Chemistry. 1999). [Link]
