UC Spark

Sarah Louise Masters

Chemistry

Fields of Research

  • Gas Electron Diffraction
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Structural Methods
  • Generation and analysis of transient species

Researcher Summary

My research is geared towards providing structural information about transient, short-lived, species. Research areas include the structure determination of transient species and stable radicals.

Transient species are generated using flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) techniques and analysed using gas electron diffraction (GED). The methodologies of FVP and GED have been combined in a new inlet system, and the species for investigation are passed into the diffraction chamber where structural data is collected. Very-high temperatures are required for this work, as the transient species are usually generated at temperatures between 500 and 900 K.

Generating stable radicals from sterically loaded systems is in the early stages of experimental investigation. The systems Z2R4 / ZR2 [Z = P or As, R = CH(SiMe3)2] provided the first known examples of molecules with relatively normal strong Z-Z bonds, which required no additional energy to break. The driving force for dissociation is the conformational change, which allows relaxation of the steric strain upon dissociation. This led to the term 'jack-in-the-box' molecules being applied to these systems. Other systems have been predicted to behave in this manner, although no experimental work has been carried out on them. Work is currently underway to examine the process of dissociation in other symmetric and also asymmetric systems using experimental and theoretical methods.

Subject Area: Disciplines

Future Research

  • Augment the current gas electron diffraction apparatus with a mass spectrometer
  • Implement photolysis methods of transient species generation

Key Methodologies

  • Gas Electron Diffraction
  • Structure Refinement
  • Gaussian Computational Chemistry Software Package
  • Data Analysis

Affiliations

Prizes and Awards

  • Royal Society of Edinburgh/BP Personal Research Fellowship (UK) (NZD 250000) to conduct research as the principal investigator. Only one fellowship is awarded every two years. (2005-2009)
  • JWT Jones Royal Society of Chemistry Travelling Fellowship (NZD 6000) to undertake collaborative research in the group of Professor Karl Hassler (Graz, Austria). 6 weeks were spent learning new synthetic techniques and making samples for investigation in my research group. (2006)
  • Moray Endowment Fund Travel Grant (NZD 1500) to conduct collaborative research in the group of Professor Georgiy Girichev (Ivanovo, Russia). This resulted in a Front Cover of Dalton Transactions (Front Cover, Dalton Transactions, 2010, 39, 6893; Related Article: Dalton Trans, 2010, 39, 6960-6966) (2007)

Research Service

  • FutureInTech Visiting Industry Professional Scheme Grant (NZD 5000) - Principal Investigator (2012-2013)
  • Departmental Postgraduate Committee, University of Canterbury (2011-present)
  • Departmental Seminar Organiser, University of Canterbury (2011-present)
  • Session Chair, 14th European Symposium on Gas Electron Diffraction, Russia (~90 Attendees) (2011)
  • Workshop (Iron Man) for the University of Canterbury Community Open Day. Four hands-on sessions with ~15 participants / session, extracting iron from breakfast cereal and making fake blood. The workshop was promoted in radio and newspaper advertising. (2011)
  • Co-Supervisor for doctoral student (Graeme Kafka) with Professor David Rankin (University of Edinburgh) (2006-2010)
  • Primary Supervisor for doctoral student (Robert Noble-Eddy). Robert was awarded a NZD 400 travel grant from the University of Edinburgh to travel to the 13th European Symposium on Gas Electron Diffraction, Germany to present his work (2006-2009)
  • Session Chair, Twenty-First Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, USA (~120 Attendees) (2006)

Publications


  • Masters, S.L., Atkinson, S.J., Hölbling, M. and Hassler, K. (2013) Gas-phase molecular structure of 1,1,1,2-tetrabromo-2,2-dimethyldisilane: Theoretical and experimental investigation of a super-halogenated disilane and computational investigation of the F, Cl and I analogues. Structural Chemistry (early access online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11224-012-0152-6. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L., Girichev, G.V. and Shylkov, S.A. (2013) The re-determination of the molecular structure of antimony(III) oxide using very-high-temperature gas electron diffraction (VHT-GED). Dalton Transactions (early access online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c2dt32790b. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L. (2012) 1,2-closo-X2B10H10 (X = P and As): GED and ab initio studies. Dallas, TX, USA: 24th Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure and Dynamics in Dallas (ASMD@D), 3-6 Mar 2012. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Masters, S.L. and Welch, A.J. (2012) New chemistry of 1,2-closo-P2B10H10 and 1,2-closo-As2B10H10; in silico and gas electron diffraction structures. Dallas, TX, USA: 24th Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure and Dynamics in Dallas (ASMD@D), 3-6 Mar 2012. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Wann, D.A., Masters, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Green, M., Kilby, R.J., Russell, C.A., Jones, C. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2011) Multiple bonding versus cage formation in organophosphorus compounds: the gas-phase structures of tricyclo-P3(CBut)2Cl and P=C-But determined by electron diffraction and computational methods. Dalton Transactions 40(20): 5611-5616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C1DT10041F. (Journal Article)
  • McLellan, R., Boag, N.M., Dodds, K., Ellis, D., Macgregor, S.A., McKay, D., Masters, S.L., Noble-Eddy, R., Platt, N.P., Rankin, D.W.H., Robertson, H.E., Rosair, G.M. and Welch, A.J. (2011) New chemistry of 1,2-closo-P2B10H10 and 1,2-closo-As2B10H10; in silico and gas electron diffraction structures, and new metalladiphospha- and metalladiarsaboranes. Dalton Transactions 40(27): 7181-7192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C1DT10540J. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L. (2011) Three phases, three conformers? A structural study of 1,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,1,2,2-tetramethyldisilane. Moscow, Russia: 14th European Symposium on Gas Electron Diffraction, 24-28 Jun 2011. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Masters, S.L., Mackie, I.D., Wann, D.A., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H. and Parsons, S. (2011) Unusual asymmetry in halobenzenes, a solid-state, gas-phase and theoretical investigation. Structural Chemistry 22(2): 279-285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11224-010-9700-0. (Journal Article)
  • Zakharov, A.V., Masters, S.L., Wann, D.A., Shlykov, S.A., Girichev, G.V., Arrowsmith, S., Cordes, D.B., Lickiss, P.D. and White, A.J.P. (2010) Front Cover. Dalton Transactions 39(30): 6893-6894. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C0DT90033H. (Other)
  • Masters, S.L. (2010) Hot Stuff: FVP-GED. The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA: Twenty-third Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 2-5 Mar 2010. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Kafka, G.R., Masters, S.L., Wann, D.A., Robertson, H.E. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2010) Low Symmetry in Molecules with Heavy Peripheral Atoms. The Gas-Phase Structure of Perfluoro(methylcyclohexane), C6F11CF3. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 114(41): 11022-11026. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp1077517. (Journal Article)
  • Noble-Eddy, R., Masters, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Robertson, H.E. and Guillemin, J-C. (2010) Molecular structures of vinylarsine, vinyldichloroarsine and arsine studied by gas-phase electron diffraction and quantum chemical calculations. Journal of Molecular Structure 978(1-3): 26-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2009.10.044. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Cordes, D.B., Bätz, K., Lickiss, P.D., Boag, N.M., Redhouse, A.D. and Whittaker, S.M. (2010) The gas-phase structure and some reactions of the bulky primary silane (Me3Si)3CSiH3 and the solid-state structure of the bulky dialkyl disilane [(Me3Si)3CSiH2]2. Dalton Transactions 39: 9353-9360. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c0dt00100g. (Journal Article)
  • Zakharov, A.V., Masters, S.L., Wann, D.A., Shlykov, S.A., Girichev, G.V., Arrowsmith, S., Cordes, D.B., Lickiss, P.D. and White, A.J.P. (2010) The gas-phase structure of octaphenyloctasilsesquioxane (Si8O12Ph8) and the crystal structures of Si8O12(p-tolyl)8 and Si8O12(p-ClCH2C6H4)8. Dalton Transactions 39(30): 6960-6966. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c000664e. (Journal Article)
  • Roldán, M.L., Brandán, S.A., Masters (née Hinchley), S.L., Wann, D.A., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H. and Ben Altabef, A. (2009) Combined Experimental Studies and Theoretical Calculations to Yield the Complete Molecular Structure and Vibrational Spectra of (CH3)3GeH. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 113(17): 5195–5204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp810988s. (Journal Article)
  • Masters S.L. (2009) Hot Stuff: FVP-GED. Blaubeuren, Germany: European Symposium on Gas-Phase Electron Diffraction, 24-28 Jun 2009. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Noble-Eddy, R., Masters, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Wann, D.A., Robertson, H.E., Khater, B. and Guillemin, J-C. (2009) Primary Phosphines Studied by Gas-phase Electron Diffraction and Quantum Chemical Calculations. Are They Different from Amines? Inorganic Chemistry 48(17): 8603–8612. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ic901018s. (Journal Article)
  • Choujaa, H., Cosham, S.D., Johnson, A.L., Kafka, G.R., Mahon, M.F., Masters, S.L., Molloy, K.C., Rankin, D.W.H., Robertson, H.E. and Wann, D.A. (2009) Structural Tungsten-imido Chemistry: The Gas-phase Structure of W(NBut)2(NHBut)2 and the Solid-state Structures of Novel Heterobimetallic W/N/M (M = Rh, Pd, Zn) Species. Inorganic Chemistry 48(5): 2289–2299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ic8021134. (Journal Article)
  • Wann, D.A., Gronde, I., Foerster, T., Hayes, S.A., Masters, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Mitzel, N.W. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2008) Highly asymmetric coordination of trimethylsilyl groups to tetrazole and triazole rings: an experimental and computational study in gaseous and crystalline phases. Dalton Transactions 2008(29): 3817-3823. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B803091J. (Journal Article)
  • Hölbling, M., Masters (née Hinchley), S.L., Flock, M., Baumgartner, J., Hassler, K., Robertson, H.E. and Wann, D.A. (2008) Molecular Structures of the Digermanes Me2GeGeXMe2 (X=Me, Cl, and H): An Ab Inito Study Combined with Experimental Investigation by Raman Spectroscopy and Gas Electron Diffraction. Inorganic Chemistry 47(8): 3023–3033. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ic7018764. (Journal Article)
  • Noble-Eddy, R., Masters (née Hinchley), S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Wann, D.A., Khater, B. and Guillemin, J-C. (2008) More user-friendly phosphines? Molecular structure of methylphosphine and its adduct with borane, studied by gas-phase electron diffraction and quantum chemical calculations. Dalton Transactions 2008(37): 5041-5047. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B804780D. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L. (2008) Stabilization of unstable phosphines? Austin, TX, USA: Twenty-second Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 2-5 Mar 2008. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Wann, D.A., Masters, S.L., Robertson, H.E. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2007) Additivity of Ring Distortions in Halogen-substituted Aromatics: A Gas-phase Electron Diffraction and Computational Study. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 111(32): 7882–7887. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp073581o. (Journal Article)
  • Roldán, M.L., Brandán, S.A., Masters, S.L., Wann, D.A., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H. and Ben Altabef, A. (2007) Molecular Structure and Vibrational Spectra of Iodotrimethylgermane (GeIMe3) by Theory and Experiment. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 111(30): 7200–7210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp072111r. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., McLachlan, L.J., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H., Seppälä, E. and du Mont, W-W. (2007) Steric and electronic effects on Si-Ge bond lengths: An experimental and theoretical structural study of Me2Ge(SiCl3)2 and Me3GeSiCl3. Inorganica Chimica Acta 360(4): 1323-1331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2006.02.007. (Journal Article)
  • Masters, S.L. (2007) Stressed disilanes: The emergence of exciting (and excited) structures from strained systems. Blaubeuren, Germany: European Symposium on Gas-Phase Electron Diffraction, 23-27 Jun 2007. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Kafka, G.R., Masters, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2007) Structure Enhancement Methodology Using Theory and Experiment: Gas-phase Molecular Structures Using Dynamic Interaction between Electron Diffraction, Molecular Mechanics, and Ab Initio Data. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 111(26): 5913–5920. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp072614x. (Journal Article)
  • Masters (née Hinchley), S.L., Grassie, D.A., Robertson, H.E., Hölbling, M. and Hassler, K. (2007) Supersilyl radicals from the dissociation of superdisilane observed by gas electron diffraction. Chemical Communications (25): 2618-2620. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B702599H. (Journal Article)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Francis, M.D., Nixon, J.F. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2007) The molecular structure of In(P3C2But2) using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT calculations. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 692(5): 1161-1167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2006.11.025. (Journal Article)
  • Montejo, M., Hinchley, S.L., Ben Altabef, A., Robertson, H.E., Partal Ureña, F., Rankin, D.W.H. and López González, J.J. (2006) An experimental and theoretical study of the molecular structure and vibrational spectra of iodotrimethylsilane (SiIMe3). Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (8): 477-485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B510827F. (Journal Article)
  • Kafka, G.R., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2006) Combining theory and experiment: enhanced methods for the dynamic interaction of theory and experiment. Austin, TX, USA: Twenty-First Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 4-7 Mar 2006. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Grassie, D.A. (2006) Combining theory and experiment: structural investigation of an extremely sterically hindered disilane. Austin, TX, USA: Twenty-First Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 4-7 Mar 2006. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L. (2006) Combining theory and experiment: Structures of short-lived species. Austin, TX, USA: Twenty-First Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 4-7 Mar 2006. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Davidson, J.E., Hinchley, S.L., Harris, S.G., Parkin, A., Parsons, S. and Tasker, P.A. (2006) Molecular dynamics simulations to aid the rational design of organic friction modifiers. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling 25(4): 495-506. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmgm.2006.03.006. (Journal Article)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Al-Jabar, N.A.A., Massey, A.G. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2006) Molecular structures of the 1,6-disubstituted triptycenes Sb2(C6F4)3 and Bi2(C6F4)3 using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT calculations. Dalton Transactions 2006(13): 1654-1659. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B514063C. (Journal Article)
  • Mareque Rivas, J.C., Hinchley, S.L., Matteau, L. and Parsons, S. (2006) The strength of hydrogen bonding to metal-bound ligands can contribute to changes in the redox behaviour of metal centres. Dalton Transactions 2006(19): 2316-2322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B516234C. (Journal Article)
  • Turner, A.R., Blockhuys, F., Van Alsenoy, C., Robertson, H.E., Hinchley, S.L., Zibarev, A.V., Makarov, A.Y. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Causes of Nonplanarity in Fluorinated 1,3λ4δ2,2,4-Benzodithiadiazines: Gas-phase Electron Diffraction, Ab initio and DFT Structures. European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry 2005(3): 572–581. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejic.200400601. (Journal Article)
  • Borisenko, K.B., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Easily Broken Strong Bonds: a New Law of Thermodynamics. In M. Lattman and R.A. Kemp (Ed.), Modern Aspects of Main Group Chemistry: 94–107. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/bk-2005-0917.ch007. (Chapter in Book)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Gas-phase structure determination: How DFT can help. Geneva, Switzerland: 11th International Conference in the Applications of Density Functional Theory in Chemistry and Physics, Sep 2005. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Gas-phase structures of aminodifluorophosphines determined using electron diffraction data and computational techniques. Dalton Transactions 2005(15): 2572-2578. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B418237E. (Journal Article)
  • Fleischer, H., Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L., Borisenko, K.B., Lewis, J.R., Mawhorter, R.J., Robertson, H.E. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Molecular structures of Se(SCH3)2 and Te(SCH3)2 using gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT geometry optimisation. Dalton Transactions 2005(19): 3221-3228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B505287B. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Uhrin, D. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Solving structure in solution: From dipolar coupling to molecular structure. Blaubeuren, Germany: European Symposium on Gas-Phase Electron Diffraction, 23-27 Jun 2005. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • McLachlan, L.J., Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H. and Mitzel, N.W. (2005) Steric and electronic effects on the conformations of n-butane derivatives with trichlorosilyl, silyl and trichloromethyl groups. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 61(7): 1411-1417. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2004.10.021. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Wann, D.A. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) Structure by theory and experiment: One nationality, two languages. International Journal of Quantum Chemistry 101(6): 878-884. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qua.20349. (Journal Article)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L., Borisenko, K.B., Robertson, H.E., Francis, M.D., Nixon, J.F. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) The molecular structure of [Sn(P2C2But2)] using gas-phase electron diffraction and DFT calculations. Dalton Transactions 2005(11): 1972-1978. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B418171A. (Journal Article)
  • Belova, N.V., Girichev, G.V., Hinchley, S.L., Kuzmina, N.P., Rankin, D.W.H. and Zaitzeva, I.G. (2005) The molecular structure of Sc(hfa)3 (hfa=1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoropentane-2,4-dionato) studied by gas electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT calculations. Journal of Molecular Structure 779(1-3): 23-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2005.07.017. (Journal Article)
  • Timms, P.L., Norman, N.C., Pardoe, J.A.J., Mackie, I.D., Hinchley, S.L., Parsons, S. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2005) The structures of higher boron halides B8X12 (X = F, Cl, Br and I) by gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations. Dalton Transactions 2005(3): 607-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B416077K. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., McLachlan, L.J., Morrison, C.A., Rankin, D.W.H., Simpson, S.J. and Thomas, E.W. (2004) Conformational analysis with both experimental and computational data for both gaseous and crystalline phases: unexpected interactions in N-methyldichloroacetamide. Journal of Physical Chemistry A 108: 185–193. (Journal Article)
  • Pham, T.N., Hinchley, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Liptaj, T. and Uhrín, D. (2004) Determination of sugar structures in solution from residual dipolar coupling constants: methodology and application to methyl β-D-xylopyranoside. Journal of the American Chemical Society 126: 13100–13110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja047242+. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Haddow, M.F. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Dramatic structural effects of a single hydrogen atom in HNPBut3. Inorganic Chemistry 43: 5522–5528. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Haddow, M.F. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Dynamic interaction of theory and experiment: total determination of the gas-phase molecular structure of tri-tert-butylphosphine oxide (OPBut3). Dalton Transactions : 384-391. (Journal Article)
  • Rankin, D.W.H., Borisenko, K.B. and Hinchley S.L. (2004) Easily broken strong bonds: A new law of thermodynamics? Anaheim, CA, USA: 227th American Chemical Society National Meeting, 8 Mar 2004. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Mawhorter, R.J., Lewis, J.R., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Electron diffraction in the digital age: Data analysis considerations. Austin, TX, USA: Twentieth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 1-4 Mar 2004. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Parkin, A., Rankin, D.W.H., Tekautz, G. and Hassler, K. (2004) Molecular structure of 1,1,2,2-tetra-tert-butyldisilane: unusual structural motifs in sterically crowded disilanes. Dalton Transactions : 759-766. (Journal Article)
  • Belova, N.V., Girichev, G.V., Hinchley, S.L., Kuzmina, N.P., Rankin, D.W.H. and Zaitzeva, I.G. (2004) Molecular structure of tris(dipivaloylmethanato)lutetium(III) studied by gas electron diffraction and ab initio and DFT calculations. Dalton Transactions : 1715-1718. (Journal Article)
  • Vojinović, K., McLachlan, L.J., Hinchley, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H. and Mitzel, N.W. (2004) Strong intramolecular secondary Si…N bonds in trifluorosilylhydrazines. Chemistry - A European Journal 10: 3033–3042. (Journal Article)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Structure by theory and experiment: Main-group metal complexes. Edinburgh, UK: Universities of Scotland Inorganic Club, 2 Apr 2004. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Wann, D.A., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Structures of main-group metal complexes: A challenge for theory? Austin, TX, USA: Twentieth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 1-4 Mar 2004. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2004) Struggling to predict molecular structures: Some limitations of theoretical methods. Austin, TX, USA: Twentieth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 1-4 Mar 2004. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Borisenko, K.B., Turner, A.R., Johnston, B.F., Rankin, D.W.H., Ahmadian, M., Jones, J.N. and Cowley, A.H. (2004) The molecular structure of tetra-tert-butyldiphosphine: an extremely distorted, sterically crowded molecule. Dalton Transactions 16: 2469-2476. (Journal Article)
  • McLachlan, L.J., Hinchley, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Morrison, C.A., Robertson, H.E., Mitzel, N.W., Rüdinger, C. and Schmidbaur, H. (2003) Highly asymmetric coordination in alkenes: gas-phase structures of trans-1,2-dichloro-1,2-disilylethene and 1-bromo-1-silylethene. Inorganic Chemistry 42: 6539–6544. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Wann, D.A. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2003) Structure by theory and experiment: One nationality, two languages. Brussels, Belgium: 10th International Conference in the Applications of Density Functional Theory in Chemistry and Physics, 5-12 Sep 2003. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H. and du Mont, W-W. (2002) A study of the asymmetry of ligands in bis(trichlorosilyl)tert-butylphosphine, P(SiCl3)2But: molecular structure by gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions : 3787-3794. (Journal Article)
  • Mackie, I.D., Hinchley, S.L., Rankin, D.W.H., Pardoe, J.A.J. and Timms, P.L. (2002) B8F12 - How low does it go? Austin, TX, USA: Nineteenth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 3-5 Mar 2002. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Trickey, P., Robertson, H.E., Smart, B.A., Rankin, D.W.H., Freitag, S., Stalke, D., Bühl, M. and Obrey, S.J. (2002) Bis(tert-butyl)sulfurdiimide, S(NBut)2 and tris(tert-butyl)sulfurtriimide, S(NBut)3: structures by gas electron diffraction, X-ray crystallography and ab initio calculations. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions : 4607-4616. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2002) DYNAMic Interaction of Theory and Experiment: A new method for gas-phase structure determination. Austin, TX, USA: Nineteenth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 3-5 Mar 2002. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Mawhorter, R.J., El Sonbaty, M., Lewis, J.R., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2002) From filament to diffraction pattern: A telefocus electron gun with einzel lens focussing and data analysis considerations. Austin, TX, USA: Nineteenth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 2-5 Mar 2002. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Mackie, I.D., Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H., Pardoe, J.A. and Timms, P.L. (2002) The structures of borane carbonyl compounds B4X6CO (X = F, Cl, Br and I) by gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions : 4162-4167. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2001) DYNAMITE - an explosive new technique for electron diffraction. Blaubeuren, Germany: European Symposium on Gas-Phase Electron Diffraction, 25-29 Jun 2001. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Smart, B.A., Morrison, C.A., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H., Coxall, R.A., Parsons, S., Zink, R., Siegl, H., Hassler, K. and Mawhorter, R. (2001) Molecular structure of ButCl2SiSiCl2But in the gas phase by electron diffraction and ab initio calculations. Molecular structures of the compounds ButX2SiSiX2But (X = Cl, Br or I) by vibrational spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography and ab initio calculations. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions : 2916-2925. (Journal Article)
  • Blockhuys, F., Hinchley, S.L., Marakov, A.Y., Gatilov, Y.V., Zibarev, A.V., Woollins, D.J. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2001) Planar 1,3λ4δ2,2,4-Benzodithiadiazine and Its Nonplanar 5,6,7,8-Tetrafluoro Derivative: Gas-Phase Structures Studied by Electron Diffraction and Ab Initio Calculations. Chemistry - A European Journal 7: 3592–3602. (Journal Article)
  • Blockhuys, F., Hinchley, S.L., Robertson, H.E., Blake, A.J., McNab, H., Despinoy, X.L.M., Harris, S.G. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2001) Pyrrolizin-3-one and its 1,2-dihydro derivative: structures of the free molecules determined by electron diffraction and ab initio calculations and in the crystal by X-ray diffraction. Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 2 2: 2195-2201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/B102475M. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Morrison, C.A., Rankin, D.W.H., Macdonald, C.L.B., Wiacek, R.J., Voigt, A., Cowley, A.H., Lappert, M.F., Gundersen, G., Clyburne, J.A.C. and Power, P.P. (2001) Spontaneous generation of stable pnictinyl radicals from "Jack-in-the-Box" dipnictines: a solid-state, gas-phase, and theoretical investigation of the origins of steric stabilization. Journal of the American Chemical Society 123: 9045–9053. (Journal Article)
  • Mitzel, N.W., Losehand, U., Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2001) Synthesis, decomposition, and structural studies in the gas phase and solid state of N,N-dimethylaminoxygermane. Inorganic Chemistry 40: 661–666. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Morrison, C.A., Rankin, D.W.H., Macdonald, C.L.B., Wiacek, R.J., A. H. Cowley, A.H., M. F. Lappert, M.F., G. Gundersen, G., J. A. C. Clyburne, J.A.C. and P. P. Power, P.P. (2000) Persistent phosphinyl radicals from a bulky diphosphine: an example of a molecular jack-in-the-box. Chemical Communications : 2045-2046. (Journal Article)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2000) Small molecules are not enough. Austin, TX, USA: Eighteenth Austin Symposium on Molecular Structure, 3-6 Mar 2000. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L. and Rankin, D.W.H. (2000) Unexpected conformations of sterically crowded molecules. Glasgow, UK: Universities of Scotland Inorganic Club, Apr 2000. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Hinchley, S.L., Smart, B.A., Morrison, C.A., Robertson, H.E., Rankin, D.W.H., Zink, R. and Hassler, K. (1999) 1,1,2-tri-tert-butyldisilane, But2HSiSiH2But: vibrational spectra and molecular structure in the gas phase by electron diffraction and ab initio calculations. Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions : 2303-2310. (Journal Article)