Highly Reactive Late Transition Metal Complexes for Small Molecule Activation

• Applicant: Dr. Jörn Nitsch
• Subject Area: Inorganic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2016 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315977926

The purpose of this project is to arrive at rational design principles, based on accurate quantum chemical explorations of the reactivity of small molecules such as H2, H2O, CH4, CO, CO2, N2, NOx, N2O, O2, SO2, SF6, etc. with homoleptic late transition metal M(NHC)2 complexes in solutions with different polarities. Here, M is a metal with a d10 electron configuration, such as Co(-I), Rh(-I), Ir(-I), Ni(0), Pd(0), Pt(0) and NHC is an N-heterocyclic carbene with different electronic (and steric) properties, i.e. with different sigma-/pi-Donor and pi-acceptor strength. The results of this study shall be used to identify new catalytically relevant complexes.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Host: Professor Dr. Matthias Bickelhaupt