Professor James Mayer of the University of Washington will conduct basic research on oxo-organometallic chemistry with support from the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Program. This will be a three-pronged effort towards discovering and developing reactions in which the metal-oxo functionality is involved in fundamental transformations of organic molecules. Tungsten-phosphine compounds of the type WCl2(PR3)4 will be investigated in their oxygen-abstraction reactions with alcohols, trimethylsylyl ethers, and carboxylates. Similar reactions involving sulfido and imido functionalities will also be studied. In the second area of research, the chemistry of rhenium-oxo-acetylene compounds will be explored. These reactions will include hydroxide to oxo-hydride migrations, and reductions and deprotonations. The third area of research will examine rhenium-oxo-tris(pyrazolyl)borate chemistry, specifically photochemical arene activation and migratory insertion of the oxo group into rhenium-alkyl bonds. These studies will lead to a general broadening of knowledge in the area of oxo-organometallic chemistry, with potential applications to major industrial oxo-organic compounds. %%% The field of organometallic chemistry has seen great application in the chemistry of commercial organic compounds. This grant will support an extension of organometallic chemistry into the chemistry of organic compounds containing oxygen atoms, such as alcohols, ethers, and acids. The controlled manipulation of the carbon-oxygen bonds is the objective of this research, which will exploit the highly versatile properties of compounds containing the metals tungsten and rhenium.
