Adventures in New Metal Complexes Design and Synthesis

Functionalization of an organic molecule often involves C-H bond activation. However, the energy that must be overcome in that process is immense. In general, special metal-containing catalysts are required, especially in selective bond activation. Here, we seek to design and synthesize new metal complexes from two different ligand approaches. These complexes hope to catalytically convert readily available compounds to useful molecules, such as ubiquitous methane (CH4) to methanol. The projects will contribute to the research field of organic synthesis, and at the same time they target the energy problem worldwide. The first family of ligands is N,N\u27- diarylformamidine which displays different geometries in solid state. It is mainly due to the altered degree of steric hindrance and inter or intramolecular H-bonding. In solution, a more symmetric conformation is generally seen for non-sterically hindered formamidines, while the others show the coexistence of isomers. Metallation gives complexes with a variety of conformation as well. Preliminary investigation of their utility in activating C-H bonds will also be described. The second group of ligands is tripodal-type ligands. Three branches are built up from one central atom, C or N, so that the overall ligands behave like three-prong clamps which can potentially secure multiple metal ions in their centers. Detail synthesis of the ligands and their coordination compounds will be followed