Event Title

Synthesis and Characterization of a copper(I)-phenyl complex

Presenter Information

Thabiso Kunene, Colby CollegeFollow

Location

Diamond 141

Start Date

30-4-2015 10:00 AM

End Date

30-4-2015 11:55 AM

Project Type

Presentation

Description

Compounds or complexes that contain an organic species and a copper ion are widely used organometallic reagents in synthetic organic chemistry, including as catalysts to facilitate other reactions. Such compounds include copper(I)-arene complexes, which are quite rare and thus their chemistry is not well understood. Consequently, the goal of this project is to synthesize and characterize new copper(I)-arene complexes with large ring ligands appended to arene groups such as phenyl and naphthyl. These complexes will serve as model systems to probe the factors that contribute to the strength and selectivity of the chemical bond between the copper(I) ion and the arene group. Specifically, I am targeting a copper(I)-phenyl complex and four synthetic steps are required to make the ligand with an appended phenyl group and two further steps are required to make the target copper(I)-phenyl complex. Previous work on this project suggests that the phenyl group does not bind as strongly to the copper(I) ion as the naphthyl group. Therefore, the binding site of the copper ion to the phenyl and the naphthyl groups might be different. This also means that the copper(I)-arene complexes bearing phenyl and naphthyl groups may behave differently in arene-replacement reactions. These hypotheses will be tested by using several tools to characterize the target complex once it has been synthesized. In addition, the complex will be used in arene-replacement reactions in order to better understand its properties and potential uses.

Faculty Sponsor

Jeff Katz

Sponsoring Department

Colby College. Chemistry Dept.

CLAS Field of Study

Natural Sciences

Event Website

http://www.colby.edu/clas

ID

1108

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Apr 30th, 10:00 AM Apr 30th, 11:55 AM

Synthesis and Characterization of a copper(I)-phenyl complex

Diamond 141

Compounds or complexes that contain an organic species and a copper ion are widely used organometallic reagents in synthetic organic chemistry, including as catalysts to facilitate other reactions. Such compounds include copper(I)-arene complexes, which are quite rare and thus their chemistry is not well understood. Consequently, the goal of this project is to synthesize and characterize new copper(I)-arene complexes with large ring ligands appended to arene groups such as phenyl and naphthyl. These complexes will serve as model systems to probe the factors that contribute to the strength and selectivity of the chemical bond between the copper(I) ion and the arene group. Specifically, I am targeting a copper(I)-phenyl complex and four synthetic steps are required to make the ligand with an appended phenyl group and two further steps are required to make the target copper(I)-phenyl complex. Previous work on this project suggests that the phenyl group does not bind as strongly to the copper(I) ion as the naphthyl group. Therefore, the binding site of the copper ion to the phenyl and the naphthyl groups might be different. This also means that the copper(I)-arene complexes bearing phenyl and naphthyl groups may behave differently in arene-replacement reactions. These hypotheses will be tested by using several tools to characterize the target complex once it has been synthesized. In addition, the complex will be used in arene-replacement reactions in order to better understand its properties and potential uses.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/233