Professor Rudolph J. Wehmschulte, Department of Chemistry, Florida Institute of Technology is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division to investigate the the preparation of novel, highly reactive cationic aluminum and gallium compounds and the subsequent investigation of their properties. It is expected that these compounds can be applied as catalysts in several important processes including C-H and C-F activation, arene functionalization, and carbonylation and hydrogenation reactions. The new compounds will be obtained through application of large chemically robust and flexible terphenyl substituents in combination with modern weakly coordinating counterions. A wide variety of analytical tools including NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and quantum chemical calculations will by employed in the investigation of the new compounds and their reactivity. This work has the potential to provide new and facile synthetic procedures for important compounds and key intermediates in synthetic chemistry. In addition, postdoctorals, graduate students and undergraduate students will be exposed to a wide range of synthetic, analytical and computational techniques and learn valuable skills. An outreach program to nearby undergraduate institutions and a local high school may attract students to scientific careers.
