A glovebox for discovery of new metal-catalyzed methods

我们的研究计划是出于对更高效、更有选择性和环境可持续的合成方法的需求。为了应对这一挑战，我们计划开发创新的方法来使碳氢键功能化，以二氧化碳为原料，并构建含氮杂环。虽然这些重要的目标是不同的，但我们的研究战略保持着一个基本的主题：发现新的过渡金属催化剂，迅速将现成的试剂转化为有价值的有机产品。过渡金属络合物具有惊人的能力，可以通过更传统的催化剂(如质子酸或路易斯酸)无法访问的机制在有机分子中建立、断裂和重排键。然而，许多活性金属络合物(及其相应的配体)对氧气和水分也高度敏感。由于对这些空气和湿气敏感物种的操纵对我们拟议的研究至关重要，我们要求使用惰性大气干箱或手套箱。所需的设备将使各种配体和金属络合物能够在惰性气氛下合成、表征和应用。这项技术将使人们能够发现在正常大气条件下不可能发现的转化、催化剂和试剂。此外，参与该计划的研究人员将接受现代有机化学最先进技术的培训，并开发执行空气和水分敏感转化所需的技能。此外，将支持的设备提案最终将导致发现根本新的化学反应活性，并增强我们制造许多研究领域感兴趣的分子的能力。

Our research program is motivated by the need for synthetic methods that are more efficient, selective, and environmentally sustainable.  Towards this challenge, we plan to develop innovative ways to functionalize carbon-hydrogen bonds, use carbon dioxide as a raw material, and build nitrogen-containing heterocycles. While these important goals are diverse, our research strategy maintains an essential theme: the discovery of new transition metal-catalysts to rapidly transform readily available reagents into valuable organic products. Transition metal complexes have an amazing ability to make, break, and rearrange bonds within an organic molecule via mechanisms which cannot be accessed using more traditional catalysts (e.g. protic or Lewis acids).  However, many reactive metal-complexes (and their corresponding ligands) are also highly sensitive to oxygen and moisture.  Because manipulation of these air and moisture sensitive species is critical to our proposed research, we are requesting an inert atmosphere dry box or 'glovebox'.  The requested equipment will enable the synthesis, characterization, and application of various ligands and metal-complexes under an inert atmosphere. This technology will enable the discovery of transformations, catalysts, and reagents which would be impossible to discover under normal atmospheric conditions.  In addition, the researchers involved in this program will be trained in the most advanced techniques of modern organic chemistry and develop the necessary skills to perform air and moisture sensitive transformations.     The equipment proposal to be supported will ultimately lead to the discovery of fundamentally new chemical reactivity and enhance our ability to make molecules of interest to many fields of research.