The Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division supports Dr. David Goldberg, Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, for his work on the synthesis and characterization of novel corrolazine macrocycles. Corrolazines are ring-contracted porphyrinoid species similar to corroles, but with three meso nitrogen atoms in place of the corroles' carbon atoms. The proposed work includes the synthesis of new of corrolazines with a range of steric and electronic properties; the synthesis of high valent metal-oxo species (e.g. Mn=O, Fe=O) using oxygen atom donors, including dioxygen and peroxide; a study of the mechanism of O-O bond cleavage that will occur during these preparations; and the development of metallocorrolazines for the selective oxidation of organic substrates.
The synthesis and reactivity of the proposed high-valent metal-oxo complexes is important to a number of fields, including catalysis development and the study of heme enzyme structure and function. In addition, the preparation of catalysts for the selective oxidation of organic substrates can ultimately lead to improvements in large-scale industrial processes as well as in the synthesis of specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates that work on this project will receive a broad training in many aspects of bioinorganic, inorganic, and organic chemistry. The P.I. will also continue to run a yearly program of Chemistry Workshops for students from a local Baltimore city high school that has a 70% African American student body.
