This award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports the work of Professor Dennis L. Lichtenberger and Dr. Nadine E. Gruhn at the University of Arizona to build an understanding of structure features that determine the electronic properties of separated molecular functional units that communicate through molecular linkers or bridges. The connections between these molecular functional units will be examined in the gas and condensed phases using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). The proposed work focuses on the application of organometallic metal-linker-metal systems (with a variety of saturated and unsaturated linkers of differing rigidity levels) as well as thiol modified surfaces with concentrated and dilute metal centers. The researchers have unique access to the only U.S.-based facility for PES. Drs. Lichtenberger and Gruhn have extensive, successful collaborations throughout the chemical community and regularly host high school teachers and minority high school students in a summer outreach program.