CAREER: Design of Catalysts for Cooperative Small Molecule Activation

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In this project funded by the Chemical Catalysis program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Nathaniel Szymczak of The University of Michigan will develop transition metal complexes capable of cooperative interactions with metal-coordinated substrates for bond activation and functionalization reactions. The work seeks to provide fundamental insights into how small molecules, such as H2, can be activated with assistance from Lewis acid and base sites in the secondary coordination sphere of a metal complex. The study targets pincer-based metal-ligand scaffolds that feature pendent borane and amine sites. These will be selected to confer a highly polarized secondary coordination sphere environment that will bias the system toward heterolytic bond activation/transfer reactions. The directed delivery of H-E (E=H, SiR3, BR2) is a goal. The Educational Plan involves the development of an authentic research design approach to teaching undergraduate lab courses. Hypothesis-driven experimentation, which simulates a real-world research environment, will be incorporated into both lower and upper level undergraduate laboratory courses. This should better prepare students for careers in STEM fields. The broader impacts of this work include potential societal benefits from the discovery of low-energy chemical conversion strategies. These may ultimately be adapted to earth-abundant metals. Hydrogenation reactions are among the widest used catalytic reactions, encompassing many industrial sectors, including petrochemical, food, and pharmaceutical production. This project focuses on the development of transition metal compounds that contain multiple reactive sites in order to promote otherwise difficult hydrogenation reactions of chemical feedstocks. By using a system with highly modular units, synthetic catalysts are targeted that are ultimately scalable, promote highly specific chemical reactions applicable to many fields, generate minimal waste, and contain earth-abundant metals. The educational component will provide interdisciplinary training for undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them for careers in teaching, in industrial chemistry, at a national lab, or in public policy.