9321906 Rothwell Purdue University Dr. Ian P. Rothwell, Chemistry Department, Purdue University, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program to carry out synthetic and mechanistic studies into the use of early d-block aryloxide and related complexes for carrying out stoichiometric and catalytic organic transformations. Titanium aryloxides will be used for the catalytic synthesis of 1,3-cyclohexadienes by (2+2+2) cycloaddition and for selective cross coupling of 1,3-dienes with olefins. A poorly understood catalyst for the selective trimerization of alkynes to fulvenes will be characterized. A new chiral aryloxide will be prepared and its use in asymmetric synthesis will be examined. Mechanisms for all of these reactions will be probed. Catalysts, species which speed or facilitate a chemical reaction, are important in all areas of pure and applied chemistry. In this study new, more effective catalysts will be developed for several important processes. The details of how these new catalysts act will be examined in detail in order to understand their behavior and to allow even more efficient catalysts to be obtained.
