Acid and Base Organocatalysts

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Steven Kass of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota is studying a new strategy for improving catalysts. The goal of this research is to create practical, useful, and environmentally friendly catalytic systems. To facilitate these ends, the Kass team is taking advantage of the attraction between opposite charges, e.g., electrostatic interactions. This project spans a broad range of chemical disciplines from catalysis to synthesis and the outcomes will affect the chemical, pharmaceutical, and materials industries. Consequently, it is well suited for training and educating young scientists who will go on to careers in these science and technology fields. An NSF-Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant enhances the broader impact of this work. A goal of this award is to prepare and fully characterize charge-enhanced acids and bases, a largely underdeveloped research area. These studies are to include the examination of the catalytic abilities of these acids and bases in a range of chemical transformations. As part of this, we will also study structural variants of the catalysts as a means of increasing reactivity and selectivity. Critical to achieving our goals is that physical studies be carried out to identify key reactive intermediates to elucidate mechanism. With these goals and methods in mind, we are studying the ability of charge-enhanced catalysts to control enantioselectivity and enable the synthesis of chiral compounds. More explicitly, this award will help us to develop charge-activated metallocene complexes. In addition to charge, these catalysts will also contain additional Brønsted acid/hydrogen bond donors and enable multifunctional cooperativity to be studied and exploited. The impact of chiral additives and solvents on the resulting enantioselectivities will also be examined. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.