This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports research on mechanisms of organometallic reactions by Dr. Charles P. Casey of the Chemistry Department, University of Wisconsin at Madison. Three distinct areas of research will be pursued: investigations of d-0 yttrium and zirconium olefin complexes; development of pi-propargyl metal complexes; and the chemistry of rhenium carbene complexes. The systems chosen for the first area of investigation will permit measurement of the rate of alkene dissociation and the rate of inversion at the metal center. This information is important for understanding the stereochemistry of polymerization with chiral metallocene catalysts. Three methods of synthesis of the pi-propargyl complexes will be investigated, as well as the reaction of nucleophiles with these complexes, which have been shown to be useful in organic synthesis. The stereochemistry of addition of HCl to rhenium carbene complexes will be studied, along with the formation of some unusual complexes designed to give information about modes of association of metals with double-bonded carbon compounds and about using variation in ring strain to favor formation of desired products. Organometallic chemistry has proved to be very useful in homogeneous catalysis and in developing new methods and reagents for synthesis of organic compounds. The reactions chosen for investigation are relevant to the behavior of commercially important processes.
