Catalina Achim

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Our research philosophy is that the rational organization of transition metal ions that have unpaired electrons can lead to nano-scale systems with magnetic and electronic properties particularly amenable for nanotechnology and molecular electronics applications. This idea is supported by the sophisticated way in which nature uses transition metal ions and clusters incorporated in proteins to accomplish physical and chemical functions essential for sustaining life. Our method for the organization of transition metal ions in nano-structures is biomimetic as we have adopted nucleic acids as scaffold in which substitution of nucleobases with ligands with high affinity for transition metal ions makes possible the incorporation of the metal ions at predefined positions in the duplexes. The combination of interactions specific for nucleic acid and coordination complexes leads to novel structures that for example can be used as platforms for the investigation of spin and magnetic interactions on electron transfer.

Lab Webpage: http://www.chem.cmu.edu/groups/achim/