CATALYTIC C-C BOND FORMING REACTIONS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Transition metal-catalyzed coupling reactions of alkenes and alkynes are effective methods of forming conjugated compounds that have wide range of applications in industrial processes and natural product syntheses. One of our group's current research goals is to study the fundamental aspects of catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming reactions of alkenes and alkynes. In particular, we employ well-defined ruthenium-acetylide and -alkylidene complexes as catalysts to study the detailed mechanisms for several new catalytic coupling reactions of alkenes and alkynes. We found that the in-situ formed ruthenium-acetylide complex 1 is an effective catalyst for the cross dimerization of alkynes. We also discovered that the metallacyclopentadiene 2 is a highly selective catalyst for the linear coupling reaction of acetylene and alkenes to yield heptatriene products. The newly synthesized cationic ruthenium-alkylidene complex 3 was found to be excellent catalyst for the hydrovinylation of alkynes. We are currently investigating the detailed reaction mechanisms, and are searching for the next generation of metal catalysts for coupling reactions of alkenes and alkynes.