Stephen A. Cooke

Professor of Chemistry

I am interested in the interaction between light and matter.  Photons with frequencies close to those received by an FM radio are useful for probing the structural landscapes of large molecules. I build and use spectrometers that utilize these frequencies. During the course of studying large molecules I often observe unique, microscopic features pertaining to a molecules structure which I then characterize. The information I obtain is useful in the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, and physics. 

Representative Courses

  • General Chemistry I and Lab
  • Physical Chemistry I and Lab
  • Chemical Instrumentation and Analytical Methods and Lab
  • Introductory Physics I and Lab
  • Introductory Physics II and Lab

Publications

See Google Scholar for full list

“The Microwave Spectra of the conformers of n-butyl nitrate”
Susanna L. Stephens, Eleonore Antonelli, Alexander B. Seys, Ha Vinh
Lam Nguyen, Stewart E. Novick, S. A. Cooke, and Thomas A. Blake J.
Mol. Spectrosc. 397, 111824, (2023).

“The Microwave Spectrum of the Difluorocyanomethyl radical, CF2CN”.
Lu Kang, Ha Vinh Lam Nguyen, Christopher B. Falls, Alexander B. Seys,
Wallace C. Pringle. Thomas A. Blake, Stewart E. Novick, and S. A. Cooke
J. Mol. Spectrosc. 385, 111618, (2022).

“On the experimental measurement of barriers to four-fold internal rotation in pentafluorosulfanyl-containing compounds: The microwave spectra of C3H5-SF5 and C4H7-SF5”. Wilman Orellana, Susanna L. Stephens, Stewart E. Novick, and S. A. Cooke, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 371, 111300, (2020).

“Microwave spectra of a potential four-fold internal rotor, phenylsulfur pentafluoride”. Joshua A. Signore, Christopher B. Falls, Susanna L. Stephens, Carlos A. Jimenez-Hoyos, Daniel A. Obenchain, S. A. Cooke, and Stewart E. Novick, J. Mol. Struct 1214, 128130, (2020).

“Evaluation of the Substitution Structures of Two Partially Fluorinated Cyclopentanes C5H3F7 and C5H2F8”, A. J. Minei and S. A. Cooke J. Mol. Struct 1207, 127778, (2020).

“Determination and Analysis of the Nuclear Quadrupole Coupling Tensors of 2-Bromopyridine”. A. Y. Chung, E. A. Arsenault, S. L. Stephens, W. C. Pringle, Carlos A. Jimenez-Hoyos, S. A. Cooke, and Stewart E. Novick J. Mol. Spectroscopy 356, 28-31, (2019).

“Torsional Splitting and the Four-Fold Barrier to Internal Rotation: The Rotational Spectra of Vinylsulfur Pentafluoride”, W. Orellana, S. L. Stephens, W. C. Pringle, P. Groner, Stewart A. Novick, and S. A. Cooke, J. Chem. Phys. 149 (14) 144304, (2018).