CAREER: Well-Defined Low-valent Titanium Reductants

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This CAREER award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research on the synthesis and characterization of well-defined low valent titanium compounds by Professor Folami Ladipo of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky. The work involves the synthesis of soluble Ti(II) and Ti(III) complexes supported by calix[4]arene-derived bis(aryloxide) ligands, the elucidation of their structure and the determination of their redox properties. The reaction chemistry of these synthons with alkynes, alkenes, imines and carbonyl compounds will be examined, and correlations established between the steric and electronic properties of the low-valent titanium reductants and their ability to promote chemo-and diastero-selective C-C bond formation. This knowledge will lead to the development of new reductants which operate under well-understood mechanisms.The goal of this research is to produce and characterize new complexes of titanium in low oxidation states which can be used as selective reducing agents in the synthesis of industrially and medically important organic compounds. In addition, some of the titanium reagents themselves are expected to possess useful catalytic properties. Considerable emphasis is being placed on undergraduate education, and inorganic course offerings at the University of Kentucky will be revamped. A cooperative arrangement with Youngstown State University has been established which will bring undergraduate students, particularly women and minorities, into the graduate pipeline.