Research Summary

Dr. Otieno's research interests are in the synthesis and characterization of different classes of inorganic compounds. Members of his research group learn inorganic synthetic methodology, including the manipulation of air-sensitive compounds. They also get the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a variety of methods for compound characterization including infrared spectroscopy, uv-vis spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility measurement and electrochemistry. Other appropriate techniques such as thermal analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction are also accessible through collaborators.

The thiocyanate (NCS^-) and cyanate (NCO^-) moieties can, in principle, bind to metal ions in five different ways: monodentate coordination through the nitrogen atom (M-NCS) or through the heteroatom (M-XCN), end-to-end bidentate bridging (M-NCS-M) and single atom bridging (>NCS, or >XCN). Work in this area in Dr. Otieno's group is aimed at determining which of these bonding modes occur in vanadium complexes, and the factors that govern any observed bonding preferences.

Another area of research in his group involves the preparation and study of coordination polymers of copper. Effort here is directed towards the development new materials with novel structures and physical properties.

Dr. Otieno’s group is also involved in the synthesis and characterization of metal complexes containing the 2,4,6-trimercapto-1,3,5-triazine moiety. The trisodium salt of this ligand, Na₃C₃N₃S_3×9H₂O, readily forms insoluble precipitates with univalent and divalent metal ions in aqueous solutions. As a result, it is widely used as a remediation agent for metal ion pollutants in the environment and wastewater effluents. However, very little is known about the chemistry of the complexes the ligand forms with metal ions. Such information would be valuable to the manufacturer and consumers of this product alike.

Selected Publications

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