In this project funded by the Chemical Catalysis program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Melanie Sanford of The University of Michigan focuses on the development of new catalysts that can ultimately be used for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals via more efficient, direct, and environmentally friendly processes. To meet this challenge, the project will establish a more detailed scientific understanding of the challenging steps of the catalysis processes. In addition, new catalysts based on less toxic and earth abundant elements will be explored and developed. In addition, an outreach program led by Professor Sanford (UM FEMMES, Females Excelling More in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science) exposes middle school girls from Ann Arbor and surrounding communities to hands-on science activities. The broader impacts of this work include potential societal benefits from the discovery of more efficient catalysts and catalysts derived from less toxic, earth abundant metals. This project serves as a training ground for undergraduate and graduate students for careers at the interface of catalysis, inorganic and organic chemistry.
The research focuses on detailed mechanistic studies of the challenging steps of the catalytic cycle, primarily alkyl-heteroatom bond-forming reductive elimination processes. Ligands will be designed to stabilize the reacting metal centers (high valent Pd, Ni, and Cu complexes) in order to investigate the scope, mechanism, and stereochemical outcomes of these processes.
