Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Given the current emphasis on sustainability and the effective use of natural resources (including petroleum-derived hydrocarbons), significant opportunities exist for developing new types of highly reactive catalysts that are able to improve the efficiency of existing chemical processes, or that can provide access to entirely new synthetic protocols that are less wasteful. Transition metal catalysts in particular have risen to the challenge of providing solutions for many of the problems of modern synthetic chemistry, and as such, most breakthroughs in catalysis are rooted in the fundamental study of transition metal reactivity. In this context, research in the Turculet group targets the preparation of transition metal complexes that exhibit new and/or improved reactivity properties by virtue of their unique construction. The Turculet group is specifically targeting new families of transition metal pincer complexes that feature formally anionic heavier main group element donors (e.g. Si, P), and has successfully shown that complexes of this type are active in catalysis (e.g. transfer hydrogenation of ketones) and are highly reactive, as indicated by their ability to selectively cleave the C-H and N-H bonds of hydrocarbons and amines (respectively) under mild conditions. The characterization and structural elucidation of such complexes plays a crucial role in this research, as it allows for structure-activity analysis and facilitates the rational design of catalysts for targeted chemical transformations. The requested Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer will be employed on a continual basis by synthetic chemistry researchers, including the Turculet group, in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University as a key instrument for the characterization and structural assignment of new organic, inorganic, and transition metal-containing compounds. This instrumentation will provide crucial data that will enable researchers to piece together an understanding of the structure and composition of new molecules and materials, thereby facilitating the identification of effective new strategies for meeting synthetic challenges.