This award will support the research of Dr. Tarek Sammakia at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The award is the starter grant portion of Dr. Sammakia's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Chemistry and deals with the design, synthesis, and reactivity of chiral Lewis acids and chiral silane reagents. Stable alpha-ferrocenyl Lewis acid carbocations will be synthesized which have a chiral center below the face of the reactive carbonium center. These reactive intermediates will be evaluated as the stereogenic centers in aldol condensations, Michael addition reactions and Diels-Alder reactions. The ferrocene template will also be used to synthesize chiral ferrocenyl silanes which will be tested in the asymmetric reduction of ketones.
