SusChEM: Fluorinated Alkoxide Complexes of Copper for C-X Bond Forming Reactions

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

This Research award in the Sustainable Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials program supports work by Professor Linda Doerrer at Boston University to develop new C-X bond forming reactions with the earth-abundant metal copper. The local impact of funding this proposal will increase the number of well-trained young scientists that can pursue education and careers in STEM fields with a particular focus on recruiting and retaining women. A new bilingual outreach program is being designed which can potentially impact many young students outside the Boston area. A wide impact on the chemical community is envisaged as this work uses Cu, an abundant and environmentally sustainable metal, to break C-H bonds, with and without O2, and make a variety of new bonds. The strategy uses copper to replace the expensive and more toxic metals currently used for these chemistries. Developing new reactions for chemical bond formation requires considering not only the desired product, but all the products formed, the energy balance of the process, as well as the overall environmental cost. Earth-abundant metals are excellent candidates for new bond forming processes. In previous work, a new family of molecules with the sustainable metals Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu was extensively developed. The metals contained ligands that are effectively teflon-coated with fluorinated groups that make them highly resistant to decomposition reactions that non-fluorinated molecules can be prey to. Two unexpected and exciting discoveries made with Cu provide an understanding for common reactions forming C-C, C-O, and C-N bonds that are being pursued. The overall impact of this work is to provide an improved understanding of materials and methods for synthesizing high value carbon-based compounds for use in numerous processes of societal relevance.