Chemistry with Carborane Anions

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The Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports the work of Professor Christopher A. Reed of the University of California - Riverside on reactivity and mechanistic studies of the carborane anions. Carborane acids, such as H(CHB11Cl11), are the strongest known pure protic acids, yet they are also the gentlest - because their conjugate base anions have low nucleophilicity and are inert towards redox processes. This work focuses on two questions related to carborane activity: What processes require the extreme inertness of carborane anions above all others? and What mechanisms can be uniquely studied because of the special properties of carborane anions? The knowledge gained from this project has ramifications for commercially important areas such as petroleum refining, polymerization catalysis, batteries and fuel cell technologies. Postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students working on the project regularly collaborate with scientists from Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom.