Organometallic Approaches to Hydrocarbon Oxidation

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This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research on hydrocarbon oxidation by organometallic compounds by Dr. John E. Bercaw of the Chemistry Department, California Institute of Technology. Aqueous platinum halides, originally reported by Shilov, will be studied. The specific goals of the work are to explore the mechanism of the C-H bond activation step in the Shilov mechanism, prepare more active and robust compounds related to model complexes that have been shown to effect C-H bond activation, prepare some derivatives containing redox active groups, examine the reactions of dioxygen with related Pt(II) compounds and seek ways to couple these dioxygen reactions to the Shilov mechanism. Understanding the mechanistic steps resulting in hydroxylation of simple hydrocarbons will help define the limitations of the Shilov system as well as provide insight into how to achieve catalytic hydroxylation of hydrocarbons using dioxygen as the oxidant. Transition metal compounds are used extensively as catalysts in the chemical industry. This project focuses on the development of catalysts for rapid and selective reaction of C-H bonds to form primary alcohols or other partially oxidized products. Such reactions could facilitate using alkane feedstocks directly in subsequent chemical production.