Professor william klemperer biography

He moved rapidly up the academic ladder and became a full professor in Over his career he mentored 67 Ph. He became an emeritus professor in He also served as an advisor to NASA and as a consultant to assess experiments related to stratospheric ozone depletion. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy Nowadays it is routine for microwave and infrared spectroscopists to follow his "two step synthesis" [ 10 ] to obtain the spectrum of a weakly bound complex: "Buy the components and expand.

The dimer of hydrogen fluoride was the first hydrogen bonded complex to be studied by these new techniques, [ 11 ] and it was a puzzle. Instead of the simple rigid-rotor spectrum, which would have produced a 1 to 0 transition at 12 GHz, the lowest frequency transition was observed at 19 GHz. Arguing by analogy to the well known tunneling-inversion spectrum of ammonia, Klemperer recognized that the key to understanding the spectrum was to recognize that HF—HF was undergoing quantum tunnelling to FH—FH, interchanging the roles of proton donor and acceptor.

Each rotational level was split into two tunneling states, with an energy separation equal to the tunneling rate divided by the Planck constant. The observed microwave transitions all involved a simultaneous change in rotational and tunneling energy. The tunneling frequency is extremely sensitive to the height and shape of the inter-conversion barrier, and thus samples the potential in the classically forbidden regions.

Resolved tunneling splittings proved to be common in the spectra of weakly bound molecular dimers. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.

Professor william klemperer biography: William A. Klemperer (October 6,

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American chemist. William Klemperer captured by Stewart Novick, c. Biography [ edit ].

Professor william klemperer biography: William A. Klemperer was an American

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. He quickly created a unique spectrometer, ripping items out of conventional gear and adding heavy duty plumbing. By vaporizing solid substances, his apparatus made accessible infrared spectra at high temperatures. The data he obtained on vibrational frequencies for many molecules, especially oxides and halides, yielded remarkable insights into their chemical bonding.

Professor william klemperer biography: Bill Klemperer was born in New

Before long, Bill began assembling a high-temperature microwave apparatus, to attain rotational spectra that would complement the low-temperature work done in E. Senior chemists advised that constructing such an elaborate beam apparatus might risk his tenure prospects. Undeterred, Bill undertook the project with Lennard Wharton, a graduate student with an engineering background from MIT.

It and later siblings, enhanced by innovative improvements such as supersonic cooling, produced a cornucopia for molecular spectroscopy and resulted in unprecedented resolution and chemical scope. Using electric fields to deflect beams and energy levels brought forth many surprising results. Studies of molecules held together by weak van der Waals forces contributed to understanding the specificity and selectivity of such ubiquitous forces in biomolecules.

Bill foresaw that myriad pairs of molecules could be weakly linked by expansion in a supersonic nozzle — a process that offered quantitative access to a wide range of intermolecular forces. Klemperer was among the world's leaders in the field of molecular spectroscopy, which explores the myriad wavelengths of light emitted or absorbed by molecules.

Obtaining the spectra provides access to the arrangement of atoms within molecules, the properties of chemical bonds linking atoms, and the electronic interactions governing those bonds. By means of unconventional experimental methods, Klemperer produced a cornucopia for molecular spectroscopy, unprecedented in resolution and chemical scope.

Especially important were studies of molecules linked by weak forces, which contributed to understanding such interactions in biomolecules. Most dramatic was his exploration into astrochemistry. Intrigued by spectra coming from molecules detected in vast, frigid interstellar clouds, he developed a theoretical model that explained the profuse variety of complex organic molecules in the interstellar clouds, in our galaxy, and others far distant.