SusChEM: CAREER: The development of cobalt(I) catalysts featuring strong-field ligands for C-X bond formation.

在这个由化学部化学催化计划资助的项目中，伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的Alison Fout教授正在开发新的地球丰富的钴催化剂，能够介导各种类型的化学键形成。该项目的目标是可持续的，生物相容的地球丰富的催化剂，以产生目前由更昂贵和有毒的贵金属，如钯，铂和铱制成的产品。 用地球上丰富的对应物简单地取代贵金属催化剂并不简单，因此正在开发方法来改变金属中心的化学环境，以促进所需的催化作用。 该研究的更广泛影响包括开发基于地球上丰富的金属的重要精细化学合成催化剂，在技术上重要的研究领域培训研究科学家，以及为小学生提供接触科学实验的基础活动。由于防止第一行过渡金属的单电子转移或自由基化学的困难性质，正在开发一种抗氧化的配体体系以稳定低价的后第一行过渡金属络合物。这项研究的特点是一组非常重要的过渡金属配合物，以介导有机催化，涉及从化学合成，光谱分析到催化的活动，为培养来自不同教育背景的未来科学家提供了一个很好的工具。Fout教授开发的外展计划正在为经济上处于不利地位的小学和初中学生建立基础，以接触科学实验，并评估对科学的兴趣如何随着年龄的变化而变化。 这项工作的更广泛的影响包括使用可持续的，地球丰富的催化剂合成重要的有机络合物的好处。

In this project funded by the Chemical Catalysis program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Alison Fout of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing new earth-abundant cobalt catalysts capable of mediating various types of bond formation chemistry. This project targets sustainable, biocompatible earth-abundant catalysts to generate products currently made by the more expensive and toxic, Noble metals, such as palladium, platinum and iridium. Simple replacement of the Noble metal catalysts with their earth-abundant counterparts is not straightforward, so methods are being developed to change the chemical environment about the metal center in order to promote the desired catalysis. The broader impacts of the research involve developing catalysts for important fine chemical synthesis based upon earth-abundant metals, training research scientists in a technologically important area of research, and building foundational activities for primary school students to gain exposure to science experiments.Due to the difficult nature of preventing single-electron transfer or radical chemistry on first-row transition metals, an oxidatively-robust ligand system is being developed to stabilize low-valent late first-row transition metal complexes. This study features a fundamentally important group of transition metal complexes to mediate organic catalysis involving activities ranging from chemical synthesis, spectroscopic analysis to catalysis, providing an excellent vehicle to train future scientists from various educational backgrounds. An outreach program developed by Professor Fout is building the foundation for economically disadvantaged elementary and junior high students to gain exposure to science experiments and to assess how the interest in science changes as a function of age. The broader impacts of this work include the benefits of using sustainable, earth-abundant catalysts for the synthesis of important organic complexes.