For the past 30 years, the major focus of my research has been in the field of molecular interactions and vibrational spectroscopy. My scientific research began with spectroscopy of matrix isolation of weak complexes of CO2 with metal atoms. The further development of this technique involved the use of liquefied noble gases (e.g. Xe) as novel solvents for chemistry (the topic of my Ph.D. studies (1983-1987); many of my papers were published in Russian journals at that time but translation of my surname into English was Kazaryan). I used this physical technique to discover new types of chemical interactions which represented truly interdisciplinary research that resulted in a special award from the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1988 for the best scientific work of a young scientist. My interests widened during my postdoctoral research and included innovative studies of hydrogen bonding in supercritical fluids and discovery of new types of hydrogen bonding. In the last decade my research interests have broadened to include supercritical fluid technology, spectroscopy and processing of polymers and polymeric materials, applications of novel solvents (ionic liquids, near-critical water). My main current research interests are the spectroscopy of intermolecular interactions and materials, chemical imaging of broad range of materials and processes and the preparation and processing of polymeric materials with the aid of supercritical fluids. The overall strategy is to combine fundamental physical chemical studies with engineering and materials science research and applications.

Significant Milestones

• First evidence of CO₂ complexes with copper atoms at low-temperatures obtained with matrix isolation spectroscopy. (Arm. Khim. Zh. 34, 375, 1981)

• Liquefied noble gases (Xenon and Krypton) were used as novel solvents for chemistry in studies of hydrogen bonding and organometallic compounds.  This physical technique was used to discover new types of chemical interactions (e.g. hydrogen bonding to carbonyl ligands in p-complexes of transition metals).  (e.g. J. Mol. Struct. 174,34, 1988; Organometallics 13, 1767, 1994). These results were important for understanding of mechanism of reactions involving organometallic compounds, such as proton transfer.

• Study of H-bonding in the Terahertz region:  obtaining and comparison of far-IR spectra of intermolecular stretching vibrations of H-bonded complexes in liquid xenon and in a molecular solvent at low-temperatures (Dokl. Acad. Nauk SSSR 291, 372, 1986 Opt. Spectrosc. 63, 45, 1987).This research has contributed to the theory of H-bonding and its spectroscopic manifestation.

• The discovery of a new type of hydrogen bonding to a transition metal centre in neutral organometallic compounds.  This research largely contributed to the renaissance of hydrogen bonding studies in organometallic chemistry (J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm., 994,1992; J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 115, 9069, 1993).

• The first study of the effect of solvent density on hydrogen bonding from the gas phase to supercritical fluid states, and observation of the enhanced solute-solute interactions near the solvent critical temperature (J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 115, 11099, 1993).