Early transition metal and lanthanide amidate complexes: modular, easily accessed complexes for catalysis

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Early transition metals, such as titanium and zirconium, and lanthanide metals have been used successfully for metal-mediated organic synthesis.  As catalysts, these metals are able to promote reactions that normally cannot occur.  Catalysis is very important for industrial applications, as it promotes chemical tranformations in a cost effective, energy efficient manner while minimizing chemical waste.  Certainly catalysis is key to the development of environmentally friendly green chemistry and sustainable methods for chemical production.  Early transition and lanthanide metals are particularly attractive for large scale applications, due to the fact that they are of low cost and low toxicity.  The easily prepared, inexpensive catalytic complexes developed in our research group show promise for a broad range of important catalytic transformations in the pharmaceutical, polymer and fine chemical industries.  Using the class of metals presented above, we have developed a family of complexes (amidate complexes) that display unprecedented and highly desirable catalytic activity in selective C-N bond formation for intramolecular reactions (both reactive partners are contained in one starting material).  We propose to continue our exploration of these complexes for C-N bond formation, to achieve a long-standing goal in chemical synthesis, the addition of amines (N-H bonds) to simple alkenes (C=C bonds) in an intermolecular fashion (reactive partners are two separate molecules).    In addition to selective C-N bond formation we will be exploring the potential application of this new family of complexes in C-C coupling reactions, as well as polymerization reactions.  Recent results demonstrate the usefulness of these complexes in the catalytic preparation of biodegradable, compostable polymers.The funds requested will support our on-going efforts to fully explore and develop these new catalytic systems.