Alexander Boldyrev Draws World Attention to Utah State

Alexander Boldyrev Draws World Attention to Utah State


Scientists are one step closer to understanding the principlel of chemical bonding thanks to Utah State University researcher Dr. Alexander Boldyrev. His research, dealing with why certain metals are stronger or weaker than others, was recognized as one of the top three breakthroughs for chemical research in 2003 by the Chemical and Engineering News Journal.

Considered to be one of the most important chemical research findings of 2003 in the entire world, Boldyrev's new findings dealing with antiaromaticity will help scientists understand the strength of certain materials and there reactance to foreign substances.

This research gives Boldyrev, an associate professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department, a conceptual breakthrough in understanding chemical bonding in metal clusters.

"This expands our horizons of chemical bonding," said Boldyrev. "This will give chemists a better understanding of chemistry."

Boldyrev conducted the theorectical research with Utah State graduate students Aleksy E. Kuznetsov, who assisted Boldyrev with the research, and Kelly A. Birch, who built the computer cluster to conduct the complicated calculations. Experimental work was conducted at his colleague professor Lai-Sheng Wang's lab in Washington.