1. Compounds of bidentate phosphines with metallocene backbones: electrochemistry and catalysis.
Chip Nataro, Department of Chemistry, Lafayette College
Catalysts are compounds that can provide lower energy pathways for important chemical reactions. In some cases, these catalysts can be chiral. Chirality has to do with the symmetry of a molecule. You can think about your left and right hand, while they are perfect mirror images of each other, they are different. You can immediately tell when you try to put a baseball glove designed for your left hand on your right hand. The same holds true for many drugs; a drug has to be the right handedness to interact with the body in a specific way. To prepare the proper handedness of a drug in a cost-effective manner, chiral catalysts must be used. Our studies are investigate the properties of compounds that are used in these sorts of catalytic systems. Our studies will shed light on why these compounds are effective catalysts in some cases and not so effective in other cases.