With this renewal award the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports the work of Dr. Josef Michl in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The research aims to extend earlier work in three areas: 1) spin-orbit coupling and zero-field splitting in triplet biradicals, 2) wavelength dependent photochemical reactions of a hydrocarbon containing parallel benzene rings, and involving intersystem crossing, and 3) the synthesis of derivatives of [1.1.1]propellane. Most of the work however will be devoted to the synthesis and properties of new alkylated and fluoroalkylated carborane anions and radicals.
The carborane compounds will be used to generate reactive intermediates, catalyze reactions with Li+ cation, oxidize very weak reducing agents, prepare unusual oxidation states of metals, and prepare magnetic and electrically conducting materials. These may have applications in lithium batteries, fuel cell membranes, and catalysis of olefin polymerization. Undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students working with the PI will gain valuable experience in organic and metallo-organic chemistry, spectroscopy, computation, and materials science.
