Michael Shaw, a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program to investigate how the redistribution of electron density in coordinated alkynes alters useful physical properties of the alkyne ligand and reactivity patterns of both the alkyne triple bond and directly attached functional groups. Ring opening of coordinated cyclopropylalkynes and reactions of metal porphyrin complexes with alkynes are the major synthetic thrusts of this project, and the effect of alkyne coordination on properities of alkynyl linked donor-acceptor molecules and remote redox sites will be probed with support from this RUI award.
Alkyne ligands have unique donor and acceptor characteristics that offer opportunities for new reactivity patterns when bound to transition metals. The ability to measure infrared absorbances and redox potentials in reaction solutions provides both important new chemical knowledge and also a rich educational experience for undergraduate researchers.
