CAREER: Mechanstic Studies Involving Late Transition Metal Complexes for Catalytic Carbon Dioxide Conversion

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

In this CAREER award funded by the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Nilay Hazari of the Department of Chemistry at Yale University will develop transition metal catalysts for the conversion of carbon dioxide into organic building blocks. In particular monomeric Ni and Pd complexes that promote the formation of new C-C bonds from carbon dioxide will be targeted. This could result in the development of a functional group tolerant catalyst that can convert carbon dioxide into carboxylic acids, which are highly useful in synthetic chemistry. The broader impacts of this program include the development of a program that will encourage local high school students to visit different research laboratories at Yale. The catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into more valuable compounds is an important problem due to the potential of this greenhouse gas as a readily available and inexpensive source of carbon in the construction of more complex molecules. Currently, there are relatively few practical methods for converting carbon dioxide into useful chemicals and the development of new catalysts for carbon dioxide conversion could have important impact on sustainable chemistry. In this work carboxylic acids which are present in many organic compounds will be synthesized from carbon dioxide. In addition, alongside the training of both undergraduate and graduate students, a program will be introduced which allows local high school students to visit chemistry laboratories.