Professor Seyferth of MIT will conduct research in the field of organometallic chemistry with funding from the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program of the Chemistry Division. He will investigate the reactions of a group of organic dianions with early transition metallocene dihalides and related compounds. The dianions are species in which the charge is delocalized over a trigonal array of four atoms, with the acetone dianion being typical. They can react as C,C or C,X nucleophiles to generate four-membered metallacyclic ring systems. Seyferth will explore the scope of synthesis of these systems as well as their reactivity. He will also investigate metal exchange reactions of organolithium compounds with transition-metal carbonyl complexes bearing heavy-metal substituents. %%% A variety of strongly basic organic compounds will be prepared, in which two protons have been removed. The chemical reactions of these bases with compounds containing transition metal ions will be investigated, because they lead to unusual four-membered rings containing the metal ion and the organic base. Of special interest is the question of which atoms of the organic bases will be incorporated in the rings. It is anticipated that these unusual compounds will find use in the synthesis of organic substances.
