This project, funded by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program, will support studies by Professor Gordon Anderson of the University of Missouri, St. Louis, on two types of bimetallic complexes of platinum and/or palladium. The first type are homonuclear diplatinum alkyl complexes that are bridged by (diarylphosphino)cyclopentadienyl ligands. These complexes will be used as a platform for the investigation of mechanisms of carbonylation and alkane elimination reactions within the dinuclear unit. The second type of dinuclear complexes to be investigated are hydride bridged homo- and heteronuclear palladium and platinum complexes whose dinuclear structures are based upon bridging bis(diphenylphosphino)methane and related ligands. Alkyl derivatives of the heteronuclear complexes will be used to study competitive reductive elimination (of alkane), and competitive electrophilic M-C bond cleavage reaction. The homonuclear dipalladium complexes provide a unique opportunity to study the chemical properties of palladium hydride complexes, which are normally highly unstable. NMR spectroscopy will be used extensively for investigating these reactions. Catalysis is necessary to increase the rates and often the selectivity of many industrial processes. The rational design of new, or even improved, catalytic systems requires detailed knowledge of the individual steps that participate in the catalytic cycle. This work is aimed at developing the fundamental understanding of some reactions of complexes of metals that are frequently involved in catalysis. The results of these studies may ultimately be used to develop new catalytic processes of industrial importance.
