McGill University Department of Chemistry Analytical/Environmental Chemical Biology Chemical Physics Materials Chemistry Synthesis/Catalysis  
   
Materials Chemistry Profs.
Andrews, Mark
Barrett, Christopher
Blum, Amy
Butler, Ian
Eisenberg, Adi
Gray, Derek
Harrod, John
Kakkar, Ashok
Kambhampati, Pat
Lennox, Bruce
Marchessault, Robert
Moores, Audrey
Perepichka, Dima
Reven, Linda
Ronis, David
Sleiman, Hanadi
van de Ven, Theo
Whitehead, M.A (Tony)
Ian S. Butler
Ian S. Butler

Professor

B.Sc. (University of Bristol, U.K., 1961)
Ph.D. (University of Bristol, U.K., 1965)
Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow (Indiana University, 1964-65)
Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow (Northwestern U., 1965-66)
Gerhard Herzberg Award (Spectroscopy Society of Canada) for Outstanding Achievement in the Science of Spectroscopy 1997
Milton Leong Fellowship (McGill University) for Collaborative Research in China 1998
David Thomson Award (McGill University) for Excellence in Graduate Supervision and Teaching 1999
F.C.I.C., F.R.S.C. (C. Chem.);
Office: 427
Phone: (514)398-6910
Email: Ian.Butler@McGill.CA

Lab: 335
Lab Phone: (514)398-6935

Research Themes:
Materials
Chemistry
Synthesis/
Catalysis

Research Description:
The inorganic aspects of our research are concerned primarily with the synthetic, spectroscopic and kinetic properties of inorganic compounds, especially organometallic complexes such as transition metal carbonyls, thiocarbonyls, nitrosyls, clusters, and species containing alkene, alkyne, and polydentate tertiary phosphorus ligands. All new compounds prepared are characterized by vibrational and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Whenever possible, the mechanistic aspects of any new synthetic reactions are also investigated.

The physical chemistry research is centered mainly on solid-state chemistry. Much of this work involves the study of phase transitions in inorganic and organic molecular crystals. Variable-temperature and high-pressure (~ 100 kbar in a diamond-anvil cell) analytical techniques (e.g., transmission, reflectance, and photoacoustic FT-IR, visible and near-IR laser Raman, EPR, and NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry) are employed in investigating the structural changes that take place. A new research area recently initiated involves the application of spectroelectrochemical techniques in studying the surface interactions in typical mineral flotation processes. This latter research program is performed in collaboration with the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering.

<center>Visual observation of micro-flower formation Er<sub>2</sub>OCO<sub>3</sub>(OH)<sub>2</sub> (from precipitate 
  of reaction mixture between Er(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> + NaOH + Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>); Assaaoudi, H; Kozinski, J & <u>Butler, I</u>.</center>
Visual observation of micro-flower formation Er2OCO3(OH)2 (from precipitate of reaction mixture between Er(NO3)3 + NaOH + Na2CO3); Assaaoudi, H; Kozinski, J & Butler, I.

Currently Teaching:
CHEM-110 General Chemistry 1
CHEM-112F General Chemistry Laboratory
CHEM-352 Structural Organic Chemistry
CHEM-470D1 Research Project
CHEM-688 Assessment
   
801 Sherbrooke St. W. Montréal, Québec H3A 2K6 tel: 514-398-6999 fax: 514-398-3797   
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