Glove box: an essential tool for the hayes group research program

海斯集团的研究重点是高能和活性分子的制备和研究，用于新的化学转化和催化。具体地说，我们感兴趣的是开发催化系统，将廉价和容易获得的碳氢化合物直接转化为有用的有机化合物，其中许多碳氢化合物是石化工业中不受欢迎的副产品，对温室气体有很大贡献。这是通过使用被称为磷化配体的分子来稳定具有不寻常的几何结构和独特的电子性质的过渡金属配合物来实现的。这些络合物的分离也应该提供关于成键和结构的基本问题的洞察，从而有助于化学家用来设计新的催化反应的知识库。这些额外的知识最终将允许对现有催化系统的合理改进和全新反应的发展。我的研究计划的第二个组成部分是解决制备既可生物降解又可生物兼容的新材料的挑战。与传统的聚烯烃材料相比，聚乳酸是一种特别有吸引力的替代品，它具有良好的加工性和宏观性能。此外，聚乳酸的合成前体可以在甜菜和玉米等廉价的可再生资源中找到，生成的聚合物既对环境友好，又具有生物兼容性。尽管有这些好处，但目前的技术对聚合物的关键特性几乎没有提供控制。与这些体系不同的是，我们的战略重点是开发带正电荷的镁和钙物种，由于它们的正电荷和空位配位，应该是高活性的丙交酯聚合催化剂。本申请中描述的许多化学前体和定制的目标化合物与空气中的氧气和水分发生反应。因此，特殊设备，即所述的手套箱，对于排除空气是必不可少的，因此，这一研究计划的成功。

Research in the Hayes group focuses on the preparation and study of high-energy and reactive molecules for application in new chemical transformations and catalysis. Specifically, we are interested in the development of catalytic systems for directly converting inexpensive and readily available hydrocarbons, many of which are produced as undesirable side products in the petrochemical industry and contribute significantly to greenhouse gases, into useful organic compounds. This is accomplished by using molecules known as phosphido ligands to stabilize transition metal complexes with unusual geometries and unique electronic properties. The isolation of these complexes should also provide insight into fundamental questions regarding bonding and structure, thereby contributing to the knowledge base used by chemists to design new catalytic reactions.  This additional knowledge will ultimately allow for rational improvements to current catalytic systems and the development of entirely novel reactions. The second component of my research program tackles the challenge of preparing new materials that are both biodegradable and biocompatible. A particularly attractive alternative to conventional polyolefin materials is polylactide, PLA, which exhibits useful processability and macroscopic properties. In addition, the synthetic precursors to PLA can be found in inexpensive renewable resources, such as beets and corn, and the resultant polymers are both environmentally friendly and biologically compatible. Despite these benefits, current technologies offer very little control over key features of the polymer. Unlike these systems, our strategy focuses upon the development of positively charged magnesium and calcium species, which, due to their positive charge and vacant coordination site, should be highly active lactide polymerization catalysts. Many of the chemical precursors and tailor-made target compounds described within this application react with the oxygen and mositure in the air.  As such, special equipment, namely the described glove box, is essential to exclude air, and thus, to the success of this research program.