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512th MEETING Of the NORTHEAST TENNESSEE SECTION Date: Monday, October 25, 1999 Location: Kingsport Civic Auditorium, Club Rooms 1-4 (map available upon request) Speaker: Dr. Darryl D. DesMarteau, Clemson University Title: Xenon-Nitrogen Compounds¾ A Search for New Xenon-Element Bonds Abstract: The discovery of the chemical oxidation of xenon by Bartlett in 1962 led immediately to an almost frenzied activity in research on the noble gases. However it soon became evident that only a very limited number of different element bond types would be possible with the noble gasses and xenon would the most diverse. By 1969 only compounds with xenon-fluorine (Xe-F and Xe-F-Xe) and xenon-oxygen bonds (Xe=O or Xe+-O-) and been isolated. Independently in 1968 and 1969 Bartlett, DesMarteau, and Musher reported examples of xenon-oxygen bonds analogous to xenon-fluorine bonds in esters of the type FxeOR and Xe(OR)2, formed from xenon difluroide and strong oxyacids. This led to considerable more diversity in xenon chemistry, but still only two elements had been bonded to xenon in isolable compounds. In 1972 we began an effort to isolate compounds containing new examples of xenon-element bonds. Nitrogen was the most logical choice for success. Work leading to the first example of a xenon-nitrogen bond and subsequent work in this area will be discussed. Presently there are unequivocal examples of xenon bonded to fluorine, oxygen, chlorine, xenon, nitrogen, and carbon. A prognosis for additional examples will be given.Darryl D. DesMarteau was born in southwestern Kansas (1940) and moved to Seattle in 1950. He received his B.S. in chemistry in 1963 from Washington State University and his Ph.D. in 1966 from Northeastern University in 1967 and move to Kansas State University in 1971 where he became full professor in 1977. In 1982 he moved to Clemson University, as Head of Chemistry and in 1989 became the Tobey-Beaudrot Professor of Chemistry. His research interests are in the synthesis and properties of highly fluorinated compounds and material. He has ~170 publication and patents and has given more than 300 presentations and invited lectures on fluorine chemistry. Honors and awards include Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (75-77), ACS Award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry (83), Clemson Alumni Award for Outstanding Research (89), Drug Science Foundation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Science in S.C. (88), and the Alexander von Humboldt U.S. Senior Distinguished Scientist Award (89). His main hobby is building and racing sports cars. |