This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports research in the laboratories of Professor Jean'ne Shreeve at the University of Idaho. Shreeve has proposed to develop a new class of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl electrophilic transfer agents based upon simple inorganic molecules. The proposal clearly outlines a variety of synthetic routes for the preparation of these reagents. Although a variety of perfluoroalkyl transfer agents are known, these reagents often require the use of tedious synthetic methodologies or possess a limited scope of applicability. The new reagents to be developed are expected to offer the advantages of being applicable to the derivatization of a variety of template molecules and being stable in the presence of nucleophiles and under photolytic conditions. Additional studies will include the nucleophilic transfer of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl groups from the corresponding per- and poly-fluoroalkylated silanes. The incorporation of fluorine or fluorine-containing groups into molecules has a marked effect upon the chemical and physical properties of the parent molecule. These changes result in increased lipophilicity and improved hydrolytic and thermal stability. As a result, the demand for such compounds by the pharmaceutical, medical and polymer industries continues to grow. The reagents developed in this program are expected to result in the more efficacious and economical production of fluorine-containing compounds.
