Competent instructional designers must have specific skills to successfully facilitate learning and to improve the performance of individuals and organizations. While some authors and professional organizations have identified the capabilities required for effective instructional designers, only a few have validated these skills by collecting data from actual practitioners.The purpose of this article is to discuss the results of a research study we conducted to identify and empirically validate competencies for instructional design professionals.

The reactions of the open-cage fullerene, MMK-9, with an open 12-membered ring on its surface and silver(I) salts have been examined. The structure of MMK-9 itself has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. MMK-9 reacts with silver trifluoroacetate in air to form the dimer, {MMK-9(OCH)Ag(AgOCCF)}. Remarkably, five MeO groups have added to the surface of the open cage in a pattern that surrounds a pentagon immediately adjacent to the opening in the cage. Dioxygen has been implicated as the oxidant in this unusual addition of five groups to the open cage. Two silver ions connected to each other by a short argentophillic interaction reside at the core of the centrosymmetric dimer. The reaction of silver nitrate with MMK-9 yields the crystalline polymer, [{MMK-9(OCH)Ag(AgOCH)}·HO]. This polymer consists of dimeric {MMK-9(OCH)Ag} units that are connected into strands through silver ions, which are chelated by the amine functions of one open cage and bound in η-fashion to a pair of carbon atoms on an adjacent open cage.

The reaction of the piperazine mono-adduct, N(CHCH)NC, with diiodine produced well ordered, black crystals of (IN(CHCH)NI)C·2.884(CH)·0.116I, which contains two nearly linear N-I-I units. Reaction of N(CHCH)NC with iodine monochloride produced two materials: the dihalogen adduct, (ClIN(CHCH)NICl)C·2.3(CS)·0.7(CHCl), when crystallization occurred rapidly from carbon disulfide/dichloromethane solution or the salt, [(N(CHCH)NH)C][ICl]·CS, when crystallization happened more slowly from toluene/dichloromethane solution where hydrolysis of the iodine monochloride by adventitious water presumably occurred.