CAREER: Metal-Ligand Multi-Electron Reactivity: Exploring the Chemistry of d0 Metal Complexes with Redox-Active Ligands

由无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目颁发的CAREER奖，支持加州大学欧文分校的Alan F. Heyduk教授开发具有正式金属电子数的过渡金属配合物的双电子反应性和基于配体的氧化还原活性。这些钛、锆和半金属配合物的期望反应性包括氧化加成、还原消除、原子和基团转移反应。这些反应对于这些金属来说基本上是前所未有的，因此它们的阐明将为催化剂设计提供新的反应模式。新的C-H键功能化策略的阐述，通过提供一种将含氮或含氧官能团引入简单碳氢化合物底物的温和方法，可以影响商品、药品和精细化学品的合成。该研究计划的更广泛影响包括对本科生和研究生研究人员和学生的科学培训和教育。学生将在获得技术技能的同时，追求新的和原创的化学问题解决方案，这将使他们在学术界或化学工业未来的工作中具有竞争力。在实验室之外，Heyduk教授将通过新生研讨会课程和UCI的加州州立数学与科学暑期学校COSMOS项目，进一步加深学生对替代能源战略的理解。此外，海杜克教授正在与加州大学欧文分校附近学校的中学科学教师合作，设计科学实验，向年轻学生介绍实验科学，鼓励他们在观察和数据收集的背景下思考科学原理，并在逻辑结论的构建中运用这些原理。

This CAREER award by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports work by Professor Alan F. Heyduk at the University of California-Irvine to develop two-electron reactivity for transition metal complexes with formal d0 metal electron counts and the use of ligand-based redox activities. The desired reactivities of these titanium, zirconium and halfnium metal complexes include oxidative addition, reductive elimination, and atom- and group-transfer reactions. These reactions are essentially unprecedented for these metals, so their elucidation will provide new reactivity patterns for use in catalyst design. The elaboration of new C-H bond functionalization strategies could impact the synthesis of commodity, pharmaceutical, and fine chemicals by providing a mild method for introducing nitrogen or oxygen containing functional groups into simple hydrocarbon substrates. The broader impacts of the research program include the scientific training and education of undergraduate and graduate researchers and students. Students will pursue new and original solutions to chemical problems while acquiring the technical skills that will make them competitive for future jobs in academia or the chemical industry. Beyond the laboratory, Professor Heyduk will further students' understanding of alternative energy strategies through a Freshman Seminar Course and UCI's California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science COSMOS program. Further, in collaboration with middle-school science teachers at schools near UC Irvine, Professor Heyduk is designing scientific experiments that introduce young students to experimental science to encourage them to think about scientific principles in the context of observation and data collection and to implement these principles in the construction of logical conclusions.