Multiple Metal - Carbon Bonds, Metallacycles, and Catalytic Reactions Involving Olefins and Acetylenes

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports research by Professor Richard R. Shrock of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concerning the synthetic and mechanistic aspects of asymmetric olefin metathesis and the organometallic chemistry of the early transition metals involving triamidoamine and diamidoamine ligands. Olefin metathesis involves the 2+2 addition of two olefins to yield two new olefins in an economically efficient manner. The catalysts under study are the only known efficient catalysts for asymmetric metathesis reactions and are of interest for preparing chiral pharmaceuticals. Early transition metal complexes with new triamidoamine and diamidoamine ligands will be investigated in order to delineate how such complexes can facilitate both stoichiometric and catalytic reactions. Organometallic complexes will be investigated in order to improve their ability to catalyze organic transformations, particularly those needed for the synthesis of chiral drugs.