Asymmetric Phenanthroline Derivatives Designed for Cu(I) Kurstan L. H. Cunningham, Division of Natural Science, Chemistry, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI 54115 Our project aims to identify the optimum photochemistry of copper(I) phenanthroline complexes by creating asymmetric steric congestion around the copper(I) center seen in the figure to the right. Our first step was to synthesize the compounds that will surround the copper(I) center in this tetrahedral-like fashion. Currently, we have succeeded in probing the unique reactivity of 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline as the starting material to create new potential ligands for a copper(I) center. We have found significantly different reactivity from various alkyl lithium regents following the reaction scheme below. The novel asymmetric ligands that have been synthesized with this reaction are summarized in the following table. R’ R 3,4,7,8-tetramethyl- 1,10-phenanthroline (tmp)