Work by ACS 'Rising Star' Demir included in special issue
Research by Selvan Demir was featured in a virtual special issue of ACS Organic & Inorganic Au -- a fitting follow-up to the recent honor of being named an ACS Rising Star.
The special issue highlights the contributions of 11 outstanding early-career scientists whose innovative research is shifting the boundaries of the field.
Demir was selected for her pioneering work in molecular magnetism and the development of lanthanide-based materials for next-generation technology.
In the special issue, Demir reports on her article titled “Synthesis and Electronic Structure of a Tetraazanaphthalene Radical-Bridged Yttrium Complex."
In this study, Demir and co-workers synthesize the first dinuclear yttrium complexes bridged by a tetraazanaphthalene ligand in both closed-shell and radical forms. Structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational analyses reveal that coordination to yttrium stabilizes the tetraazanaphthalene radical and strongly influences its spin and charge distribution.
This work establishes tetraazanaphthalene as a new redox-active bridging ligand and provides key insights into ligand-centered radical chemistry relevant to magnetic and spintronic materials.
"I am thrilled about the isolation of the first yttrium complexes containing tetraazanaphthalene bridges in both the closed-shell and radical forms, where we provide spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational evidence that the coordination to metal ions stabilizes the organic radical," said Demir, an assistant professor in MSU's Department of Chemistry.
"This enables potential applications and sets the stage for exciting new frontiers in spin-based science."
This recognition follows a remarkable year of accolades for Demir, who was recently honored with a Sloan Research Fellowship, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
You can learn more about the Demir Group and its breakthroughs here.
