Dr. Dean M. Roddick, Department of Chemistry, University of Wyoming, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program of the Chemistry Division for the study of the organometallic chemistry of fluoroalkylphosphine transition metal complexes in acid and superacid media. Preparative routes will be developed for new cationic fluoroalkylphosphine-group 10 metal complexes, which incorporate weakly coordinating anions, and for analogous neutral d8 metal complexes. Using this inventory of compounds the general area of acid-mediated organometallic chemistry will be outlined. Initially, the dimerization of functionalized olefins, proton induced carbonyl insertion, ethylene/CO copolymerization, and acid directed alkane functionalization will be examined in acidic situations. Based on the results of this portion of the project, the chemistry will be extended to solution and solid superacid media. Many important chemical reactions are carried out under acidic conditions. However, organometallic compounds, which are important laboratory and commercial catalysts and reagents, often are not stable in acidic environments. This project targets a newly discovered class of organometallic compounds that have remarkable tolerance for acidic surroundings and aims at developing new types of metal catalysts that can promote a variety of reactions in acid and superacid media.
