Organometallic Chemistry of High Oxidation State Palladium

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This award in the Division of Chemistry supports research by Professor Melanie Sanford at the University of Michigan to investigate the mechanism, scope, selectivity, and ligand effects in stoichiometric reactions involving Pd(III) and Pd(IV) intermediates. The reactivity and selectivity profiles discovered will enable the rational design of new catalytic transformations. Palladium is an extremely important transition metal that is widely used in homogeneous catalytic transformations for the construction of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. These reactions have found extensive application in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, natural products, fine chemicals, and commodity chemicals. The proposed research will demonstrate the feasibility of diverse organometallic reactions (including C-H activation, migratory insertion, and nucleopalladation) at appropriately designed high oxidation state palladium complexes. Ultimately, the novel reactivity and selectivity profiles established herein will enable the rational design of new catalytic transformations. The PI and coworkers will expand an outreach program for high school students called "Science Saturdays", which promotes broader participation in the physical sciences by exposing students to an authentic research-like experience, to another site in Michigan. This laboratory trains a diverse set of students (29 total PhD students and post-docs since 2003), of whom 17 are women and 3 are members of underrepresented minority groups. Graduate and undergraduate students working on this project will receive interdisciplinary training in inorganic synthesis, inorganic reaction mechanisms, and synthetic organic chemistry.