Indirect Activation and Deactivation of Lewis Acids

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Andrew R. Barron, Department of Chemistry, William Marsh Rice University, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program for studies of cooperative Lewis acid interactions. Group 13 Lewis acids have the ability to alter the reactivity of of another Lewis acidic site. Initially the research will focus on the activation of arenes toward hydrogen/deuterium exchange through complexation of mercury(II) halides and how that reactivity is modified by the addition of a Group 13 Lewis acid such as aluminum chloride.Lewis acids change the electron cloud around molecules, thereby altering the reactivity. Lewis acid catalysis is prevalent in many synthetic fields, including commodity chemical manufacturing, polymer synthesis and pharmaceutical production. This study examines how the presence of one Lewis acid site can change the properties of another Lewis acid site. The students involved in this work will be trained in a number of synthetic techniques, characterization tools and computational tools that will prepare them for future careers.