The focus of this research involves a combination of experimental and computational projects designed to give deeper understanding of basic organic chemical reactions. The experimental projects include the synthesis of a semibullvalene that is predicted to be bishomoaromatic, a study of the stereochemistry of the ring opening of 1,2-dimethyl-3,3-(bistrimethylsilyl) cyclopropane, and the matrix isolation and IR spectroscopy of cyclopentanone-2,5-diyl. Among the proposed computational projects are electronic structure calculations on the mechanism of the reaction of hexafluorcyclopropane with halogens, the existence of cooperative and competitive substituent effects in [1,5]sigmatropic shifts, and the effects that determine whether reductive elimination of methane occurs with or without ligand loss from a variety of transition metal complexes.
With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Dr. Weston T. Borden of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington. Professor Borden will focus his work on three experimental and eight computational projects in the areas of organic synthesis, organic and inorganic reaction mechanisms and computational chemistry. In addition to providing training for graduate students and postdoctorals, the project will have the broader impact of resulting in exchanges of knowledge between the Borden group and the research groups of many collaborators, including those in the chemistry faculty at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). The interaction at SPU will also enrich the research experience of undergraduates at that institution.
