Arnold Rheingold
Inorganic chemistry: Small-molecule crystallography, synthesis of transition metal/p-block clusters
Contact Information
Office: UH 5128
Phone: (858) 822-3870
Fax: (858) 822-3872
Email: arheingold@ucsd.edu
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Education and Appointments
1969 Ph.D., University of Maryland
1963 M.S., Case Western Reserve University
1962 B.S., Case Western Reserve University

Awards and Academic Honors
2002 Chair, ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry
1992 Elected Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
1981-1992 Appointed to faculty, University of Delaware
1980 Visiting Professor, SUNY-Buffalo
1970-1981 Appointed to faculty, SUNY-Plattsburgh
1969-1970 Research Associate (postdoctoral), Virginia Polytechnic Institute
1963-1965 Project Manager, Glidden Co.

Research Interests
Recent advances in the instrumentation for small molecule X-ray crystallography have made it possible to complete a full structural characterization of a new material in less time, at less expense and with far less ambiguity than any other characterizational method currently available.

Prof. Rheingold's research explores ways of using X-ray crystallography to provide very rapid and accurate structural characterizations of new compounds in collaboration with members of this department and with several hundred chemists from about fifty other departments worldwide. He welcomes inquiries regarding the establishment of new collaborations, particularly in the areas of inorganic and organometallic chemistry.

His interest in crystallography arose from his research in the synthesis and properties of large cluster structures containing hybrid p-block and transition-metal atoms. These are often paramagnetic solids necessitating crystallographic characterization. A recent example is the di-cubane structure, {[(Cp*CrSe)3Se]2(µ6-As)}, shown below. It contains Cr in a non-integral oxidation state and it behaves ferromagnetically at low temperatures. Such hybrid clusters are of interest as precursors to new materials displaying thermoelectric and thermomagnetic properties. Simple tetrahedrane analogues such as [(CO)3CoAs3] are found to be excellent volatile precursors to skudderudite phases useful in high-temperature Seebach-effect applications. Both of these metal/p-block hybrid clusters was formed from p-block hetero- and homo-cyclic precursors; in the cases above: (CH3AsSe)3 and (CH3As)5.



Primary Research Area:
Inorganic Chemistry



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Selected Publications
  • Synthetic Models for the Zinc Sites in the Methionine Synthases. With S. Chiou, J. Innocent, C. G. Riordan, K. Lam, and L. M. Liable-Sands. Inorg. Chem. 39, 4347-4353 (2000).
  • Structural Diversity in a Family of Copper(I) Thioether Complexes. With C. Ohrenberg, C. G. Riordan, and L. M. Liable-Sands. Inorg. Chem. 40, 4276-4283 (2000).
  • The First Transition-Metal Complex of Tetrafluorobenzyne: Ir(·5-C5Me5)(PMe3)(·2-C6F4). With R. P. Hughes, A. Williamson, and R. D. Sommer. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 7443-7444 (2001).
  • Cobalt Single-Molecule Magnet. With E. C. Yang, D. N. Hendrickson, W. Wernsdorfer, M. Nakano, L. N. Zakharov, R. D. Sommer, M. Ledezma-Gairaud, and G. Christou. J. Appl. Phys. 91, 7382-7394 (2002).
  • Terthienyl and Poly-Terthienyl Ligands as Redox-Switchable Hemilabile Ligands for Oxidations-State-Dependent Molecular Uptake and Release. With P. A. Weinberger, T. B. Higgins, C. A. Mirkin, C. L. Stern, and L. M. Liable-Sands. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 2503-2509 (2002).
  • The Effect of a 3-Benzyl Group on the Coordination Chemistry of Homoscorpionate Ligands. With L. N. Zakharov and S. Trofimenko, Inorg. Chem. 42, 827-833 (2003).
  • Synthesis and Reactions of Molybdenum Triamidoamine Complexes Containing Hexaisopropylterphenyl Substituents. With D. V. Yandulov, R. R. Schrock, C. Ceccarelli, and W. M. Davis. Inorg. Chem. 42, 796-813 (2003).