CAREER: Merging Adjacent Areas of Lanthanide Chemistry to Study Catalysis

在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，Wayne州立大学化学系的Matthew J. Allen教授将专注于测试阴离子解离和水配位对催化的影响的假设，以及合成一系列新的预催化剂，这些预催化剂模拟了用于MRI的镧系造影剂。此外，通过采用发光衰变测量和氧-17核磁共振光谱，可以大大扩展研究水体系中镧系预催化剂动态构效关系的方法。此外，使用这些技术获得的数据将用于帮助测试关于水配位对使用一系列新的手性预催化剂的Mukaiyama醛醇反应中不对称键形成的机制影响的假设。作为拟议研究的一个更广泛的影响，艾伦教授将研究Mukaiyama醛醇反应，因为它是最重要的碳-碳键形成反应之一，这对合成化学至关重要。除了探索镧系催化的重要问题外，该提案还描述了通过指导早期科学家和将沟通技巧纳入科学课程来改善教育的计划。具体而言，将为来自不同教育和社会经济背景的高中生提供与本提案的科学部分直接相关的全年研究经验，预计这将对学生追求科学事业的倾向产生重大影响。此外，由于沟通技巧对成功的科学事业至关重要，但在科学教育中往往没有得到重视，因此概述了将沟通教学纳入指导经验和大学和高中水平的正式科学课程的计划。这些项目将通过更彻底地为学生在科学领域的职业生涯做好准备，大大提高那些参与的学生的标准科学教育。

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Chemistry Division, Professor Matthew J. Allen of the Chemistry Department at Wayne State University will focus on the testing of hypotheses regarding the influence of anion dissociation and water coordination on catalysis and the synthesis of a new series of precatalysts modeled after lanthanide-based contrast agents for MRI. Additionally, the methods available to study dynamic structure-activity relationships of lanthanide-based precatalysts in aqueous systems will be greatly expanded through adaptation of luminescence-decay measurements and Oxygen-17 NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the data obtained using these techniques will be used to aid in the testing of hypotheses regarding the mechanistic influence of water coordination on asymmetric bond formation in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction using a series of new chiral precatalysts.As a broader impact of the proposed research, Professor Allen will study the Mukaiyama aldol reaction because it is one of the most significant carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, which are of paramount importance to synthetic chemistry. In addition to probing important problems in lanthanide-based catalysis, this proposal describes plans to improve education by mentoring early scientists and incorporating communication skills into scientific curricula. Specifically, year-round research experiences directly related to the scientific portion of this proposal will be provided for high school students from diverse educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, which are expected to have great impact on the propensity of students to pursue careers in science. Additionally, because communication skills are critical to a successful scientific career but are often underemphasized in science education, plans are outlined describing the integration of communication instruction into mentoring experiences and formal science courses at the university and high school levels. These programs will greatly enhance the otherwise standard science education of those who participate by more thoroughly preparing students for careers in science.