SusChEM: Electrophilic Carbenes: From Fundamental Studies to Applications in Synthesis and Catalysis

化学部的化学催化计划和NSF的SusChEM计划支持德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的Christopher Bielawski教授开发基于卡宾的催化剂，该催化剂可以转化广泛的易获得的起始材料(如一氧化碳、氨、氢气等)。变成有价值的化学产品。这项研究建立在最近发现的一种稳定的卡宾的基础上，这种卡宾与普遍存在的N-杂环卡宾不同，它相对亲电，在温和的条件下激活具有惰性键的分子。由于许多活化过程类似于过渡金属的活化过程，本研究将采用开发和探索一系列亲电卡宾的化学来利用它们的化学势，并促进广泛的新的无金属的催化转化。这个项目不仅丰富了卡宾的化学，同时开辟了催化的新维度，还有助于我们目前对化学反应和结构的理解，同时为合成化学家建立了新的工具。从经济、环境和可持续发展的角度来看，开发有机替代品来替代目前的金属基催化剂，通常需要贵重和/或有毒的试剂，并在恶劣的条件下操作，具有吸引力。该项目还包含一个重要的教学开发部分，它增强了德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的合成化学课程，并促进了相关的大学预科、本科生、研究生和博士后成员的指导和领导技能。在开展上述活动的同时，还开展了几项面向多样性的外联活动，旨在通过参与暑期研究和其他教育宣传方案，增加在科学、技术和工程领域从事职业的学生人数，特别是在目前任职人数不足的人群中。总体而言，该项目的协同研究、教学和推广部分旨在激励、培养技术和解决问题的技能，并为我国未来的劳动力在高科技领域就业做好准备。

The Chemical Catalysis Program in the Chemistry Division and the SusChEM initiative at NSF supports Professor Christopher Bielawski of the University of Texas at Austin to develop carbene-based catalysts that transform a broad spectrum of readily available starting materials (e.g, carbon monoxide, ammonia, dihydrogen, etc.) into valuable chemical products. The research builds upon the recent discovery of a stable carbene that, unlike the ubiquitous N-heterocyclic carbenes, is relatively electrophilic and activates molecules that possess inert bonds under mild conditions. As many of the activation processes are analogous to that of transition metals, the development and exploration of the chemistry of a series of electrophilic carbenes will be adapted in this research to harness their chemical potential and to promote a broad range of new metal-free, catalytic transformations. Beyond enriching the chemistry of carbenes while opening a new dimension in catalysis, this project contributes to our current understanding of chemical reactivity and structure, while establishing new tools for synthetic chemists.The development of organic alternatives to current metal based catalysts, which often require precious and/or toxic reagents and operate under harsh conditions, is attractive from economic, environmental, and sustainability perspectives. This project also contains a significant teaching development component that enhances the synthetic chemistry curriculum at the University of Texas at Austin, and promotes the mentoring and leadership skills of involved pre-college, undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral members. In parallel with the aforementioned activities, several diversity-oriented outreach efforts are directed toward increasing the numbers of students pursuing careers in science, technology and engineering fields, especially among populations that are currently underrepresented, through engagement in summer research and other educational outreach programs. Overall, the synergistic research, teaching, and outreach components of this project are designed to inspire, cultivate technical as well as problem-solving skills, and prepare future members of our nation's workforce for employment in high technology areas.