This research award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports work by Professor T. Keith Hollis at The University of Mississippi in the design and development of next generation ligand architectures. This program specifically focuses on seeking breakthroughs with newly developed systems. Recent developments have led to the demonstration of a novel class of CCC-N-heterocyclic carbene (CCC-NHC) ligands for transition metals. The synthetic methods for the development of transition metal complexes of the ligands will be investigated during the award period. The unique steric and electronic properties of the ligands have potential for applications in C-H activation, dintirogen activation, and light harvesting, with appropriate synthetic methodologies to prepare the needed metal complexes. The early and late transition metal complexes of the ligands show novel reactivity in C-C, C-N, C-Si and C-B bond forming reactions. The scope and limitations of these reactions and others will be investigated during the project. The fundamental organometallic chemistry developed in this program will be applied to research problems with societal and economic impact - new methods for pharmaceutical synthesis and light harvesting for photocatalysis with potential for water splitting. This research will engage students at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral level, providing them with training and experience in the synthetic methods of organic and organometallic chemistry and in catalysis.
The development of new ligand architectures has implications for pharmaceutical science, catalysis, electroluminescence, and photocatalysis. To achieve these applications, new ligand designs that demand new synthetic methods are required. Catalytic tests of the new complexes provide feedback into the design of improved systems. Innovative new ligands impact society by making chemical processes economically more viable and by achieving reactivity patterns that were not previously accessible.
