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William Geiger, "How Can One Small Electron Make Such a Big Difference?"

28 October 2009, 6:00 pm

Professor, Department of Chemistry

Molecules taking part in chemical and biochemical reactions receive their energy either thermally (i.e., heat), photo-chemically (light), or through electron transfer (electricity). The last of these often requires transfer of a single electron from one molecule to another. Given that an electron is, by far, the smallest of the major subatomic particles, and that molecules (and even atoms) have dozens to hundreds of them, how can electron-transfer reactions trigger so many important processes of great diversity, from the easily understood operation of batteries to the amazing and complex reactions involved in respiration and photosynthesis? Dr. Geiger's lecture took us on a journey that started with simple electron clouds and led to the speaker's favorite organometallic electron-transfer reactions.
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