1. Bio-inspired Two-Site Bimetallic Hydrocarbon Activation Catalysts
William Farnsworth, Eric McDonald, Cherol Tomer, Stephen Contakes
Westmont College, 955 La Paz Rd., Santa Barbara, CA
This goal of this research is the preparation of bimetallic oxidation catalysts that mimic oxidases by using tethered redox “cofactors” to accomplish multi-electron oxidations. Work during the present grant period has largely focused on the preparation of redox-active metallocene derivatives of metal salen complexes .
We have found that a ferrocene group alters the reactivity of CoII(salen) complexes toward molecular oxygen. We are engaged in efforts to structurally characterize the reaction products and determine this system’s ability to oxygenate substrates.