New metal complexes for small molecule activation

In my time as a graduate student at Purdue University, I have worked in two different research groups. The research projects I worked on in the first group (Dr. Jon Wilker’s group) focused on characterizing and understanding the chemical composition of various bioinorganic materials, and how this relates to their physical properties. Manuscripts containing some of these findings are in preparation. These projects required the development of various methods and techniques to aid in data collection. These new methods are described in the fourth chapter of this thesis and in a Journal of Adhesion article (see reference 2 in Chapter 4). The majority of this thesis (Chapters 1-3) focuses on research projects from the second group I worked in (Dr. Suzanne Bart’s group). Research projects in this group focus on the design, synthesis, characterization, and study of low-oxidation state metal complexes capable of small molecule activation. The use of bulky ligands, such as hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate (Tp), tris(2-pyridylmethyl) amine (tpa), and 1,1,1-tris(triphenylphosphine-iminophosphorane) ethane ligands was explored for this purpose. Various transition metal complexes were successfully synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and IR spectroscopies, as well as X-ray crystallography. The reactivity of these complexes towards small molecules was studied, and the products characterized by the same spectroscopic techniques