LX ligands in transition metal catalysis

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Chemical manufacturing is a trillion-dollar a year industry on a global basis. At $9B US in chemical exports (2001), it is also a major driver of the Canadian economy. Some 90% of all chemical processes are enabled by catalysis, and this is a major factor in maintaining our economic competitiveness. Catalysis is also an inherently "green" phenomenon, and as such plays a major role in reducing the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing processes, by improving both energy-efficiency and atom-efficiency. The proposed research aims to capitalize on the expertise of researchers at Kanata Chemical Technologies Inc. (KCT) and the research group of Dr. Keith Fagnou at the University of Ottawa to explore the catalytic reactivity of an important type of catalyst that is under investigation at KCT for hydrogenation processes.  The untapped potential of these catalysts is enormous, and may have implications in a wide range of catalytic processes.  We intend to explore and map out this reactivity to both expand the reach of catalytic processes and to learn more about the catalysts themselves.  We have selected two important reaction classes to validate these ligands and catalysts with.  First we will examine the applicability of these catalysts in direct asymmetric nucleophilic additions.  Nucleophilic addition/substitution reactions are ubiquitous in organic synthesis, but commonly require the use of a stoichiometric activating agent such as a Bronsted base.  Success in this pursuit should therefore have broad significance in the efficient synthesis of organic molecules pertinant to the preparation of new medicinal compounds in the pharmaceutical sector.  The second reaction class are the palladium catalyzed cross coupling reactions.  These reactions have been generally adopted by pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries when the synthesis of biaryl or arylamine compounds is required.  The use of LX-type ligands in these processes may offer enhanced reactivity as indicated by recent mechanistic developments.