UNIQUE ADVANTAGES OF ORGANOMETALLIC SUPPORTING LIGANDS FOR METAL COMPLEXES

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Innocent ligands, such as phosphines and cyclopentadienyl derivatives, impart electronic and steric properties once coordinated to the metal center but the ligands themselves are not modified during the course of a chemical transformation. In contrast, non-innocent ligands cooperate with the metal during its reactions. The distinction between these two classes of ligands is becoming blurry and the research team led by Professor Paula Diaconescu at the University of California-Los Angeles seeks to identify and exploit the effect of non-innocent ligands on reactivity, particularly carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bond activation, aromaticity, single molecular magnets and metal-metal interactions. The experimental research team at UCLA collaborates with theoretical and computational scientists at other universities forming an interdisciplinary group focused on tuning the reactivity of the synthesized metal complexes, observing their resultant reactivity patterns, and incorporating unreactive molecules into value-added compounds. The diverse work environment allows for the integration of women and underrepresented minority students while expanding the representation from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds in the scientific enterprise. Professor Diaconescu collaborates with a number of high school students, enabling them to learn advanced experimental techniques as well as to gain an understanding of molecular and materials synthesis and catalysis. Professor Diaconescu continues to work with the California NanoSystems Institute, particularly the High School Nanoscience Program, in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District.This award from the NSF Chemical Synthesis Program supports the research efforts of Professor Paula Diaconescu at the University of California-Los Angeles, in examining the role of ancillary groups as they participate in reactions at rare earth metal centers. The research group is focused on ferrocene-based chelating ligands because they possess unique electronic characteristics that make them especially versatile in supporting the reactivity of the metal centers, especially in relation to (1) the reductive cleavage of C-H/C-fluorine (F) bonds by rare earth metals, (2) aromaticity in arene-bridged rare-earth complexes, (3) inverse sandwiches of arene-bridged paramagnetic lanthanides, and (4) the importance of organometallic supporting ligands.