RUI: Synthesis and Reactivity of Coordinatively Unsaturated Zwitterionic Half-Sandwich Group VIII Metal Complexes

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This research award in the Chemical Synthesis (SYN) program in the Division of Chemistry at NSF supports work by Professor Paul J. Fischer at Macalester College to synthesize and probe the reactivity of neutral half-sandwich organometallic complexes that feature a formal +1 charge on a group VIII metal (M = Fe, Ru, Os) and a formal -1 charge on a B atom within the ligand backbone. Related positively charged group VIII complexes are intermediates in metal-catalyzed organic transformations; this project probes how reactivity can be tuned by employing neutral complexes with an internal charge separation. The extent of electronic stabilization afforded by this M-B intramolecular charge separation will be probed via investigating syntheses of neutral complexes with unknown cationic analogues. This project trains Macalester College chemistry majors in chemical synthesis by teaching these students an array of critical skills for the synthesis and characterization of organic and inorganic compounds. Students will emerge from their research experiences with the laboratory skills and maturation as experimentalists to engage all aspects of graduate level synthetic research projects.The impact of an intramolecular charge separation on organometallic complex reactivity informs catalyst design strategies; complexes synthesized via this study will be excellent candidates for cross-coupling, atom transfer radical addition, and atom transfer radical cyclization reactions.