Synthesis and Characterization of Metallated Zintl Ions

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Dr. Bryan Eichhorn, Chemistry Department, University of Maryland - College Park, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division to investigate the synthesis and characterization of transition metal derivatives of soluble group 14 and 15 Zintl ions. The compounds will be prepared from the reactions between zero valent transition-metal complexes and Zintl anions. The targeted complexes will be among the first anionic transition-metal Zintl ion clusters. These species contain few or no attendant ligands or organic groups and will contain highly nucleophilic transition-metal centers. The use of these complexes in the activation of small molecules will be investigated. In general metal atoms tend to lose electrons to form positively charged ions. However, there is a class of negatively charged species called Zintl ions which are composed of several (usually between 7 and 12) metal atoms which are clustered together. This project aims at preparing such negatively charged clusters in which one of the components is a transition-metal. Since the transition-metals have important, e.g., catalytic properties, the new species to be prepared in this research are envisioned to possess the ability to activate small molecules and perform chemical transformations more efficiently than presently known Zintl species.