Eric J. Schelter

Assistant Professor
Inorganic and Materials Chemistry

Office: 3003 IAST
Phone: (215) 898-8633
Fax: (215) 573-6743
Email: scheltersasupennedu

Jump to: Research Statement | Education and Academic History | Selected Publications

Research Statement
Projects in the Schelter Group involve inert atmosphere/Schlenk line synthesis of inorganic and organometallic complexes. Rigorous characterization of new compounds is achieved through X-ray crystallography, NMR, FTIR, and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopies, electrochemistry and magnetic susceptibility studies. Current projects are focused on the chemistries and electronic structure effects of the lanthanides, uranium and main group elements

Capturing Heavy-Fermion Type Electron Correlations in Molecular Complexes
The intermetallic heavy-fermion materials, comprised of intermediate valence f-elements such as cerium, are characterized by exotic emergent phenomena including unconventional superconductivity. Recent results on these materials suggest a common energy scale for the emergence of the superconducting state, dependent on the local magnetic interaction of f-moments with conduction electrons. Local electron correlations are also believed to underpin the high Tc superconductivity of other families of materials. Parallel studies in molecular chemistry have begun to show inorganic and organometallic complexes are capable of exhibiting the same type of mixed-valency and correlations found in the heavy-fermion materials.
This project will generalize the requirements for emergence of Kondo-like phenomena in magnetically-dilute molecular complexes. New materials will be synthesized from fundamental units of electron correlation to three-dimensional molecular phases.

Exploring the Inverse Trans Influence in the Chemistry of Uranium
Antithetical to the trans influence in transition metal chemistry, which results in a weakening of metal-ligand bonds trans to strongly-bound groups, is the inverse trans influence in the chemistry of the actinides. Semi-core p-orbital mixing with valence d- or f-orbitals gives rise to the influence, however, the presence of both orbital types in the actinide valence shell precludes its simple description. The large thermodynamic stability of the ubiquitous linear, trans-dioxo uranyl cation, UO22+ is one important consequence of this influence.
This project will develop new complexes in varying geometries and coordination environments to systematically study the inverse trans influence in the structural chemistry of uranium. These results will have direct relevance to the bio-remediation of actinide contaminated ground waters, for which the thermodynamic driving force of the influence plays an important role.

Education and Academic History

Selected Publications
(Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Spencer, L. P.; Schelter, E. J.; Yang, P.; Gdula, R. L.; Scott, B. L.; Thompson, J. D.; Kiplinger, J. L.; Batista, E. R.; Boncella, J. M. "Cation-Cation Interactions, Magnetic Communication and Reactivity of the Pentavalent Uranium Ion [U(NR)2]+" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, accepted.

Schelter, E. J.; Veauthier, J. M.; Graves, C. R.; John, K. D.; Scott, B. L.; Thompson, J. D.; Pool-Davis-Tournear, J. A.; Morris, D. E.; Kiplinger, J. L. "1,4-Dicyanobenzene as a Scaffold for the Preparation of Bimetallic Actinide Complexes Exhibiting Metal-Metal Communication" Chem. - Eur. J. 2008, 14, 7782-7790. (Cover Article)

Schelter, E. J.; Wu, R.; Scott, B. L.; Thompson, J. D.; Morris, D. E.; Kiplinger, J. L. "Mixed-Valency in Uranium Multimetallic Complexes" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 2993-2996.

(Texas A&M University)

Schelter, E. J.; Prosvirin, A. V.; Karadas, F.; Bacsa, J.; Dunbar, K. R. "A Family of Metal-Cyanide Cubes with Alternating Octahedral and Tetrahedral Corners Exhibiting a Variety of Magnetic Behaviors Including Single Molecule Magnetism" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 8139-8149.

Schelter, E. J.; Prosvirin, A. V.; Dunbar, K. R. "Molecular Cube of Re(II) and Mn(II) that Exhibits Single-Molecule Magnetism" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 15004-15005. (Highlighted in C&E News)

Schelter, E. J.; Prosvirin, A. V.; Reiff, W. M.; Dunbar, K. R. "Unusual Magnetic Metal-Cyanide Cubes of Re(II) with Alternating Octahedral and Tetrahedral Corners," Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 4912-4915.