Peter B. Armentrout
PHYSICAL & ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Distinguished Professor and Chair (b. 1953)
B.S. Case Western Reserve University, 1975
Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1980 
Postdoctoral, Bell Labs, 1981. 
Phone: (801) 581-7885

armentrout@chem.utah.edu 

U of U Chemistry Faculty

  Armentrout Research Group Site


Activities & Awards 
Presidential Young Investigator, National Science Foundation, 1984-89
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, 1986-1990
Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, 1987-1992
Fellow, AAAS, 1992; APS, 1994; JSPS, 1999
Buck-Whitney Award, ACS Eastern New York Section, 1993
University of Utah Distinguished Research Award, 1994
Mack Memorial Award Lecturer, Ohio State University,
Dept. of Chem.
Biemann Medal, Am. Soc. Mass Spectrometry, 2001
Utah Award of Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2002
Cannon Fellow, Chemistry Department,
University of Utah, 2003-present
Editorial Board: current, J. Chem. Phys., International J. Mass Spectrometry, J. American
Society of Mass Spectrometry; formerly, J. American Chemical Society, Organometallics, J Cluster Science

Research Interests 

Our research provides a detailed understanding of the thermochemistry, kinetics, and dynamics of simple and complex chemical reactions. Our group seeks to understand, from a fundamental viewpoint, reactions involved in catalysis, surface chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and plasma chemistry. Techniques involved include mass spectrometry, ion beams, molecular beams, laser spectroscopy, and ab initio theory. Specific areas of interest include:

Chemistry of state-selected atomic metal ions.
Transition metals have an abundance of low-lying electronic states that we have shown for 1st-row metals can have very different reactivity. We have recently developed a novel ion mobility source that should permit such studies to be extended to the 2nd- and 3rd-row metals where spin-orbit interactions become important.

Chemistry of unsaturated organometallic complexes.
By varying the number and types of ligands attached to metal ions, we study periodic trends, the influence of ligand substitution, and the effects of metal oxidation state on reactivity. These studies provide quantitative thermodynamic data and qualitative electronic information on unsaturated organometallic complexes: the key intermediates in homogeneous catalysis.

Chemistry of solvated ions.
Gas-phase solvated ions are important species in the atmosphere and in aerosols and provide a bridge between phenomena in condensed phases and the gas phase. Detailed experiments on such species yield quantitative information that cannot be obtained easily in the condensed phase.

Thermochemistry of metal ions interacting with biological molecules.
We have begun studies of metal ions bound to molecules of biological relevance. Our work includes some of the first measurements of the binding energies of Li+, Na+ and K+ with the nucleic acid bases and amino acids.

 

Environmental chemistry.
In collaboration with scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, we are investigating the thermochemistry of systems having potential importance in the clean up of nuclear waste sites.

Chemistry of metal cluster ions.
Laser vaporization, supersonic expansion techniques generate cold transition metal cluster ions that can be size-selected using mass spectrometry. We measure the thermodynamic stabilities of these clusters and their reactivity with a variety of molecules. These studies provide quantitative data relevant to surface chemistry and heterogeneous catalysis.

Laser spectroscopy.
In collaboration with Prof. M.D. Morse, we are using resonantly enhanced multi-photon (REMP) laser spectroscopy coupled with pulsed field ionization (PFI or ZEKE) spectroscopy to study small transition metal cluster ions and ligated metal ions.

Threshold behavior: theory and experiment.
A theoretical understanding of the kinetic energy dependence of reaction cross sections is in its infancy. We are developing theoretical models that include application of statistical theories, reaction dynamics, and non-adiabatic effects.

Ab initio theory.
We consistently apply ab initio theory to provide structures, molecular parameters, and bond energies for use in the analysis and interpretation of our experimental results.

Selected Publications

  • "A Thermodynamic "Vocabulary" for Metal Ion Interactions in Biological Systems" Rodgers, M. T.; Armentrout, P. B. Accts. Chem. Res. 2004, 37, 989-998.

  • "Sequential Bond Energies of Water to Sodium Glycine Cation" Ye, S.J.; Moision, R. M.; Armentrout, P. B. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2005, 240, 233-248. 

  • "Guided Ion Beam and Theoretical Study of the Reactions of Ir + with H 2 , D 2 , and HD" Li, F.-X.; Zhang, X.-G.; Armentrout, P. B. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 8350-8357. 

  • "Heats of Formation of Co(CO) 2 NOPR 3 , R = CH 3 and C 2 H 5 , and Its Ionic Fragments" Gengeliczki, Z.; Sztáray, B.; Baer, T.; Iceman, C.; Armentrout, P. B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 9393-9402.

  • "Sequential bond energies of Fe + (CO 2 )n, n = 1 - 5, determined by threshold collision-induced dissociation and ab initio theory" Armentrout, P. B.; Koizumi, H.; McKenna, M. J. Phys. Chem A 2005, 109, 11365-11375.

  • "Guided-Ion Beam and Theoretical Study of the Potential Energy Surface for Activation of Methane by W + " Armentrout, P. B.; Shin, S.; Liyanage, R. J. Phys. Chem A 2006, 110, 1242-1260.

  • "Gas-phase thermochemistry of the early cationic transition-metal sulfides of the second row: YS + , ZrS + , and NbS + " Kretzschmar, I.; Schröder, D.; Schwarz, H.; Armentrout, P. B. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2006, 249-250, 263-278. 

  • "Thermochemistry of the Activation of N 2 on Iron Cluster Cations: Guided ion beam studies of the reactions of Fe n + (n = 1 - 19) with N 2 " Tan, L.; Liu, F.; Armentrout, P. B. J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 124, 084302-1-14. 

  • "The Special Five-Membered Ring of Proline: An Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Alkali Metal Cation Interactions with Proline and Its Four- and Six-Membered Ring Analogues" Moision, R. M.; Armentrout, P. B. J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 3933-3946.


     
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