CAREER: Novel Corrole Macrocycles: Synthesis and Applications

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. David Goldberg, Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program, Division of Chemistry, National Science Foundation, through a Career Award for his work on the synthesis and characterization of novel corrole macrocycles that will incorporate and stabilize high-valent oxidation states of transition metal ions such as iron(IV), nickel(III), and copper(III). Metal-oxo species such as (corrole)Fe=O will be isolated, characterized and exploited as possible catalysts for the dehalogenation of chlorocarbons. In the educational front, a series of Chemistry Workshops will be developed for the Ingenuity Project, an outreach program for advanced inner-city students focused on mathematics and science. Also, a new graduate level bioinorganic chemistry course will be implemented in which critical reading of primary literature and presentation skills will be emphasized. The new corrole macrocycles will find applications in activating molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, and in their mediating reductive dehalogenation of environmentally significant organohalide substrates such as the recalcitrant carbon tetrachloride found in many groundwaters. Students involved in the Ingenuity Project will have access to potential role models and will help them discover the excitement of doing chemistry, and science in general.