Radu F. Semeniuc, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor - Inorganic Chemistry
B.S., “Babeş-Bolyai” University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), 1990
Ph.D., “Babeş-Bolyai” University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), 2001
Ph.D., University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC), 2004
EIU, 2007
Courses Taught
CHM 1310, 1410 - General Chemistry I, II
CHM 1415 - General Chemistry II Lab
CHM 2310 – Inorganic Chemistry I
CHM 4900 – Inorganic Chemistry II
CHM 5350 – Organometallic Chemistry
Research Interests
Molecular Devices and Machines, Crystal Engineering, Supramolecular Organometallic Chemistry.My research interests center in the highly interdisciplinary area of inorganic materials – supramolecular chemistry, in particular the logical organization of solids via both covalent and non-covalent interactions.
One specific research focus is the synthesis and characterization of metal-containing materials, using heterotopic ligands based on the backbone modification of xanthates R-O-C(S)S- and dithiophosphonates RO-(An)-P(S)S- (An = anisole) with pyridine based donor groups. This approach leads to a facile, stepwise synthesis of polynuclear luminescent compounds, such as {[CH3OCH2CH2OP(An)S2]2Ni}[4PyCH2OCS2Re(bipy)(CO)3]2.
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A second research interest lays in the area of mechanically interlocked molecules, especially in the synthesis of Metal – Organic – Rotaxane – Frameworks (MORFs). We have recently been successful in grafting on a central naphthalenediimide (NDI) moiety groups with coordinative properties such as –C(O)O- and –P(S)S- donor sets, and used them in the preparation of new rotaxanes with organometallic groups as stoppers, see below the case of NDI[CH2CH2CH2CO2SnPh3(CH3OH)]2⊂15-DN-38C10 (left) and NDI[CH2CH2OCH2CH2OP(An)S2SnPh3(H2O)]2⊂15-DN-38C10 (right).
![NDI[CH2CH2OCH2CH2OP(An)S2SnPh3(H2O)]2⊂15-DN-38C10](chemistry_staff_directory/Semeniuc_clip_image002_0001.jpg) |
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Representative Publications (undergraduate co-authors underlined)
Articles:
Semeniuc, Radu F.; Reamer, Thomas J.; Smith, Mark D. "8-Quinoline Based Ligands and Their Metallic Derivatives: A Structural and Statistical Investigation of Quinoline π – π stacking Interactions" New J. Chem. 2010, 34, 439-452.
Semeniuc, Radu F.; Reamer, Thomas J.; Blitz, Jonathan P.; Wheeler, Kraig A.; Smith, Mark D. "Functionalized O-Alkyldithiocarbonates: A New Class of Ligands Designed for Luminescent Heterometallic Materials" Inorg. Chem. 2010, 49, 2624-2629.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Smith, Mark D. “Supramolecular networks of Silver(I) and Iron(II) Complexes of the Third Generation Tris(pyrazolyl)methane Ligand Ph2(O)POCH2C(pz)3 (pz = pyrazolyl ring)” Dalton Trans. 2008, 2253-2260.
Campian, M. V.; Haiduc, I.; Semeniuc, R. F. “[1,4-Bis(diphenylphosphino)butane-μ2P,P']-(dithiocarbonato-μ2S,S')nickel(II)” Acta Cryst., E 2007, E63, m2168.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Elgin, J. Derek; Rassolov, Vitaly; Smith, Mark D. “The 1,8-Naphthalimide Synthon in Silver Coordination Chemistry: Control of Supramolecular Arrangement” Cryst. Growth Des. 2006, 6, 2758 – 2768.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Little, Christine A.; Smith, Mark D. “Crystal Retro-Engineering: Structural Impact on Silver(I) Complexes with Changing Complexity of Tris(pyrazolyl)methane Ligands” Inorg. Chem. 2006, 45, 7758-7769.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Gardinier, James R.; O'Neal, Jennifer; Reinecke, Bryn; Smith, Mark D. “New N,N,N-Heteroscorpionates Based on 2,2'-Bis(pyrazolyl)ethanamine and Its Derivatives. Ligands Designed for Probing Supramolecular Interactions” Inorg. Chem. 2006, 45, 4337-4339.
Reger, Daniel L.; Elgin, J. Derek; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Pellechia, Perry J.; Smith, Mark D. “Directional control of π-stacked building blocks for crystal engineering: the 1,8-naphthalimide synthon” Chem. Commun. 2005, 4068-4070.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Rassolov, Vitaly; Smith, Mark D. “Supramolecular Structural Variations with Changes in Anion and Solvent in Silver(I) Complexes of a Semi-rigid, Bitopic Tris(pyrazolyl)methane Ligand” Inorg. Chem. 2004, 43, 537-554.
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Smith, Mark D. “Synthesis of Open and Closed Metallacages Using Novel Tripodal Ligands: Unusually Stable Silver(I) Inclusion Compound” Inorg. Chem. 2003, 42, 8137-8139.
Chapters in Scientific Books
Reger, Daniel L.; Semeniuc, Radu F.; Gardinier, James R.; Brown, Kenneth J.; Smith, Mark D. “Pyrazolyl Embrace as a Supramolecular Synthon: Case Study of Metal Carbonyl Complexes Containing Linked Tris(pyrazolyl)methane Ligands” in “Functional Nanomaterials”, eds. Geckeler, Kurt E. and Rosenberg, Edward, American Scientific Publishers, 2006, pages 411-424.
