Expanding the Scope of Group 13 Chemistry with Redox-Active Ligands

在化学系化学合成项目的资助下，加州-戴维斯大学化学系的Louise Berben教授将探索铝和相关元素在化学反应过程中转移电子的基本能力。该项目的动机是，在许多重要的有用的化学过程涉及电子转移到或从一个金属物种的事实。虽然能够做到这一点的金属是众所周知的，但它们往往是稀有和昂贵的。为了获得更经济的电子转移物种，本项目将重点放在廉价而丰富的金属铝上。该研究提出了新的铝化合物的设计，可以转移电子，并可能导致在大规模储能和许多工业过程中的应用。与ACS项目种子，加州大学戴维斯分校NSF REU计划，并在加州大学的第一代大学生计划的合作将提供研究指导和项目经验，以经济困难的高中生，本科生，分别。该项目集中在13组化学的两个领域的发展。首先，将制备含有氧化还原活性配体的有机铝化合物，并研究基于配体的供体-受体性质。一个重点是发展结构-功能关系，使分子中的氧化还原过程可以通过调节分子结构来控制。在第二个领域，将发展正方形平面13族元素金属芳香化合物的反应化学。这部分的目标是探索金属-配体多重键合和金属-芳香族反应化学。在进行这个项目时，Berben小组将采用无机合成技术来获得新的材料和分子进行研究，我们将使用电化学方法，单晶X射线衍射，核磁共振和电子顺磁共振（NMR和EPR），近红外，红外和X射线吸收光谱来表征这些新化合物。EPR和X射线吸收光谱将在合作中进行。拟议工作的好处和成果包括扩大在化学和材料应用中利用铝的能力，以及培训熟练的劳动力来处理铝和其他13族元素。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

With funding from the Chemical Synthesis Program in the Chemistry Division, Professor Louise Berben in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California – Davis will explore the fundamental ability of aluminum and related elements to transfer electrons during chemical reactions. The project is motivated by the fact that in many important useful chemical processes involve electron transfer to or from a metal species. While metals that are capable of doing this are well known, they are often rare and expensive. In order to obtain more economical electron transfer species this project focuses on aluminum, which is an inexpensive and plentiful metal. The research puts forward designs of new aluminum compounds that can transfer electrons and may lead to applications in large scale energy storage and in many industrial processes. Collaborations with ACS Project SEED, the UC-Davis NSF REU program, and First-Gen College student programs at the University of California will provide research mentoring and project experience to economically disadvantaged high school students, and undergraduates, respectively. This project centers on the development of two areas of group 13 chemistry. In the first, organoaluminum compounds containing redox-active ligands will be prepared and the ligand-based donor-acceptor properties will be investigated. A focus is on developing structure-function relationships so that redox processes in the molecules can be controlled by modulation of molecular structure. In the second area, the reaction chemistry of square planar group 13 element metallo-aromatic compounds will be developed. The goal of this portion of the project is to explore metal-ligand multiple bonding and metallo-aromatic reaction chemistry. In pursuing this project, the Berben group will employ inorganic synthesis techniques to obtain new materials and molecules for study, and we will characterize these new compounds using electrochemical methods, single crystal X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance (NMR and EPR), near infra-red, infra-red, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The EPR and Xray absorption spectroscopies will be performed in collaborative efforts. Benefits and outcomes of the proposed work include an expanded ability to utilize aluminum in chemistry and materials applications, and training of a skilled workforce to work with aluminum and other group 13 elements.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.