This research award in the Chemical Synthesis (SYN) program supports work by Professor Chip Nataro at Lafayette College to investigate the interaction of phosphorus containing compounds with sulfur, selenium and transition metals. Subtle alterations to the ancillary groups bound to phosphorus can significantly impact the properties exhibited by the phosphorus. The electrochemical and structural properties of phosphine sulfides and phosphine selenides will be examined to further understand the reactivity of these compounds in particular after they undergo oxidation. Similarly, when phosphorus is coordinated to a transition metal, oxidation of the ancillary groups on phosphorus can have a significant impact on the reactivity of the transition metal. Undergraduate students will be actively involved in this work which will serve as a strong foundation for their further scientific contributions in industrial or academic settings.
Phosphorus containing compounds are used in a variety of different applications but of particular interest are their applications in industrial catalytic processes. By further examining the reactivity of these compounds, in particular after undergoing oxidation, more efficient and effective applications for these phosphorus containing compounds can be envisioned.
The work supported by this grant had two primary goals. The first was to get undergraduate students engaged and excited about scientific, in particular chemistry, research. The second goal was to prepare and study new previously unknown chemical compounds with untold possible applications. Both goals of this project were fully realized. Twelve different students were involved in this research. All of them with majors in STEM fields and half of them would not have had an opportunity to participate in research were it not for this grant. Five of these students have graduated with undergraduate degrees in chemistry or biochemistry and four of those five decided to further their education by going to graduate school in chemistry. The work of all of these students was high quality and resulted in three publications, numerous oral and poster presentations at national meetings of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and one student being awarded the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research. The future contributions to society by these students through their scientific endeavors are by far the greatest impact of this work. These students actively participated in preparing more than forty previously unknown compounds. Using a variety of experimental techniques they were able to determine the exact structures of these new compounds. Of greatest interest are a series of compounds containing two different metal atoms (Figure 1). Through different methods, one of the metal atoms (the Pd in the figure) is rendered short of electrons. The only way it can come close to making up for this deficiency is by interacting with the other metal atom (the Fe). This causes significant disruption of the normal surroundings of the second metal. Preliminary investigations have examined what impact this disruption will have on the properties of these compounds.
