With funding from the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organo- metallic Program, Professor Donald Darensbourg of Texas A&M University plans studies of carbon dioxide-transition metal organometallic chemistry in five related area: 1) mechanism and scope of decarboxylation reactions of carboxylic acids, 2) reactivity of low valent metal alkoxides and aryloxides toward carbon dioxide insertion, 3) copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxides, 4) carbon dioxide chemistry in aqueous solution employing soluble organometallic reagents, and 5) photochemical activation of metal carbon bonds toward reaction with carbon dioxide. In all cases emphasis is placed on the development of a mechanistic understanding of the reactions involving carbon dioxide. Techniques to be employed in these mechanistic studies include infrared spectroscopy under high temperatures and pressures using a cylindrical internal reflectance cell, and NMR spectroscopy. %%% Studies of the mechanisms of reaction of carbon dioxide with various organometallic reagents will be undertaken with the ultimate aim of developing methods of utilizing carbon dioxide as a carbon source for the production of consumer products. This is especially pertinent to current concerns of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide constitutes more than 50%, in an economically feasible fashion.
