Research Interests

Inorganic and Organometallic Coordination Chemistry

General Scope - Our research program centers on the application of novel perfluorinated phosphine ligands to a variety of challenging problems in metal coordination chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. In our laboratory we have exploited the chelating perfluorinated phosphine ligand (C₂F₅)₂PCH₂CH₂P(C₂F₅)₂ ("dfepe"), which mimics the electronic properties of the classic pi-acceptor ligand carbon monoxide while possessing substantially greater steric influence and chemical inertness. This ligand has allowed us to synthesize a wide range of highly stabilized electrophilic "Teflon-coated" transition metal complexes with unique chemical properties. More recently we have extended this this class of phosphine ligands to include monodentate (C₂F₅)₂P(R) as well as PCP "pincer" type phosphines.   Several of our current areas of research interest are described below.

Superelectrophiles

Ligand Design

Hydrocarbon Activation