The Physical Organic Chemistry Group at ORNL conducts a broad range of basic and applied research focused primarily on challenges involved in energy production, storage, and utilization. Currently we have six major programmatic themes:

1. Fundamental reactivity of biomass fuels and representative model compounds with an emphasis on pyrolysis chemistry
2. Surface and pore confinement effects on organic transformations involving free-radical intermediates
3. Photocatalysis and electrocatalysis for energy production including CO2 conversion
4. Metal hydride chemistry for hydrogen storage and release
5. NMR spectroscopy of complex solids with a focus on heterogeneous catalysts
6. Novel materials and analytical techniques for forensic science applications.

This research involves organic, inorganic, and materials synthesis, determination of reaction kinetics and mechanisms, materials characterization, spectroscopic investigations involving advanced NMR and optical methods, as well as theory, modeling, and simulation. As a result of the multi-disciplinary nature of our R&D programs, our group includes permanent staff, postdoctoral associates, students, and guests with varied backgrounds including organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry. We are also involved in numerous collaborations with scientists in other disciplines, and we utilize several major ORNL facilities such as the Spallation Neutron Source and the National Center for Computational Sciences.

For more information, contact A. C. Buchanan at (865) 576-2168.

Provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Chemical Sciences Division          
Rev:   March 2009

Model of phenethyl phenyl ether molecules grafted into the 2.9 nm pores of MCM-41 silica.

700 MHz NMR spectrometer for research on solids.