Professor Aaron Odom of Michigan State University is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program to develop catalytic C-N bond forming reactions, particularly those that construct frameworks relevant to heterocyclic synthesis. The central reactions being explored are hydroamination and hydrohydrazination of olefins and alkynes using titanium catalysts with pyrrolyl based ancillary ligands. New protocols are also being developed for three component coupling reactions that bring together hydrazine, isonitrile and alkyne reagents.
Formation of heterocyclic products via atom efficient coupling methodologies provides the foundation for this project that features the addition of either an amine or hydrazine to an alkene or an alkyne. The broader impacts of this project also include training students in both inorganic and organic mechanistic chemistry and in teaching students sophisticated experimental techniques encompassing multinuclear NMR, kinetics, and x-ray diffraction.
