The Chemistry Seminar Program brings visitors from across Canada and beyond to present seminars in their area of expertise. The seminars are open to everyone, including undergrad students.
Monday January 16
11:30 am
Engineering and Computer Science Bldg, Room 116
Morris Bullock
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Stalking and Capturing Elusive Monomeric Copper Hydrides
Copper hydrides were first reported in 1844; their value as catalysts for organic reactions has significantly expanded in the last two decades. Copper hydrides with NHC (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) ligands typically exist as dimers, [(NHC)Cu(m-H)]2. The kinetics of insertion of organic substrates into the Cu-H bond are determined by the electronic properties of the substrates. Conversion of the dimer to a monomeric species or insertion into the Cu-H bond can be rate-determining. Remote ligand modification can have a large effect on the dimer-monomer equilibrium, even when substituents are several bonds away from the copper. Destabilization of the [(NHC)Cu(m-H)]2 dimer relative to the (NHC)Cu-H monomer enables the isolation of rarely observed Cu-H monomers. These highly reactive monomeric complexes insert tri-substituted alkenes into the Cu-H bond.