About

Dr. Butcher teaches a variety of chemistry courses, including general, physical and inorganic chemistry. Her current research examines the electronic structure and bonding properties of metallic carbides using molecular orbital calculations. Dr. Butcher is a member of the American Chemical Society and the National Science Teachers Association. She enjoys music, baseball and beachcombing.

Education

• Ph.D., Chemistry, Stanford University (1989)
• B.S., Chemistry, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1984)

Expertise

Courses Taught: General Chemistry Physical Chemistry Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Senior Capstone.

Research Interests: Using density-functional calculations to study the electronic structure and bonding properties of transitional metal compounds. Recent studies, done in collaboration with The Aerospace Corp., have involved titanium carbide and nitride, which are refractory materials with wide use in the aerospace industry. Other compounds of interest are transition metal complexes with biological activity. 

Publications

Stephen V. Didziulis and Kristine D. Butcher, "A Perspective on the Properties and Surface Reactivities of Carbides and Nitrides of Titanium and Vanadium" Coord. Chem. Rev., 2013, 257, 93.

S. V. Didziulis, K. D. Butcher, and S. S. Perry, “Small Cluster Models of the Surface Electronic Structure and Bonding Properties of Titanium Carbide, Vanadium Carbide, and Titanium Nitride”, Inorg. Chem., 2003, 42, 7766.

K. D. Butcher, S. V. Didziulis, B. Briat, and E. I. Solomon, “Variable Photon Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopy on FeCl4- : A Unusual Electronic Structure for High Spin d5 Complexes”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1990, 112, 2231.

K. D. Butcher, S. V. Didziulis, B. Briat, and E. I. Solomon, "Variable Photon Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopic Study of High Spin d6 Tetrahedral FeCl4-2 : Electronic Structure Effects on Ionization", Inorg. Chem., 1990, 29, 1626.

K. D. Butcher, M. S. Gebhard, and E. I. Solomon, "Variable Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopic Comparison of the Bonding in Ferric Sulfide and Ferric Chloride: An Alternative Description of the Near IR-Visible Spin-forbidden Transitions in High Spin d5 Complexes", Inorg. Chem., 1990, 29, 2067.

S. V. Didziulis, K. D. Butcher, S. L. Cohen, and E. I. Solomon, "The Chemistry of Copper Overlayers on Zinc Oxide Single Crystal Surfaces: Model Active Sites for Cu/ZnO Methanol Synthesis Catalysts", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1989, 111, 7110.

S.V. Didziulis, S. L. Cohen, K. D. Butcher, and E. I. Solomon, "Variable Photon Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopic Studies of Covalent Bonding in 3d10 Transition Metal Compounds" Inorg. Chem., 1988, 27, 2238.