This award in the Research Planning Grant for women program is made by the Chemistry Division to Dr. Sandra L. Laursen of the Department of Chemistry, Kalamazoo College. The spin triplet state of the NH (imidogen) radical and its reactivity with small hydrocarbon molecules in rare-gas matricies of varying atomic number will be studied. The use of various rare gases will control the efficiency of the spin-forbidden dissociation to the triplet state, and hence the ratio of singlet to triplet concentrations in the initial electronic state. The goal of the project is to clarify the role of spin multiplicity in the dynamics of these and other excited-state reactions. The planning grant will support purchase of a tunable light source crucial to the project and initial studies to define suitable energy regimes.