Low-valent and low-coordinate main group chemistry

这项建议中概述的研究计划包括几个新的无机试剂家族的开发和研究。特别是，这项研究集中在主族的化学上，包括元素周期表的S块和P块的元素。尽管这些元素是许多重要材料的组成成分，例如被称为“氧化铟锡”的透明半导体是触摸屏和太阳能电池板以及化合物(例如化肥和清洁产品中的磷酸盐)的关键组件，但与有机化学或过渡金属化学相比，这些元素的化学仍然知之甚少，也缺乏控制。我们的研究既包括合成新的主族化合物，也包括利用计算化学对化学物种和反应进行准确的模拟。目标化合物由含有氧化态和配位数异常低的主族元素的新化学物质组成。低氧化态化合物富含电子，通常活性很高，许多配位数较低的元素也是如此。我们已经发现了一些方便的方法来调节这些化合物的几个主要类别的反应性，这样它们就足够稳定，可以分离出来，同时仍然具有所需的反应性特征。我们的化合物可以方便地合成许多使用传统方法难以或不可能制造的化合物，我们努力使用我们的新试剂来获得许多前所未有的化学品。我们还将探索我们的试剂(及其衍生的化学品)作为形成新材料或重要材料的前体的用途。除了它们的合成用途外，所研究的化合物还将为主要族元素的化学的基本方面提供许多新的见解。这些研究提供的理解构成了合理设计和开发主要族化合物衍生的化学品和材料所必需的基础。

The research program outlined in this proposal entails the development and investigation of several new families of inorganic reagents. In particular, this research is focused on the chemistry of the main group, which includes the elements of the s- and p-blocks of the periodic table. Although these elements are components in many important materials e.g. the transparent semi-conductor called "indium tin oxide" is a critical component of touch screens and solar panels and chemical compounds (e.g. phosphates in fertilizers and cleaning products), the chemistry of these elements remains poorly understood and controlled in comparison to those of organic chemistry or transition metal chemistry. Our studies include both the synthesis of new main group compounds and the accurate modeling of chemical species and reactions through the use of computational chemistry. The target compounds consist of new classes of chemicals that contain main group elements in unusually low oxidation states and coordination numbers. Low oxidation state compounds are electron-rich and are typically highly reactive as are many elements with low coordination numbers. We have discovered convenient approaches to mediate the reactivity of several major classes of these compounds so that they are stable enough to be isolated yet still possess the desired reactivity characteristics. Our compounds allow for the convenient synthesis of many compounds that are difficult or impossible to make using traditional methods and we endeavour to use our new reagents to obtain many unprecedented types of chemicals. We will also explore the utility of our reagents (and chemicals derived from them) as precursors for the formation of new or important materials. In addition to their synthetic utility, the compounds studied will provide many new insights into the fundamental aspects of the chemistry of the main group elements. The understanding provided by such studies form the foundation necessary for the rational design and development of chemicals and materials derived from main group compounds.