Late Metal Carbide Chemistry

In this project funded by the Chemical Synthesis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Jeremy Smith of the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University will develop the chemistry of first-row transition metals bound to atomic carbon, otherwise known as metal carbides. While seemingly exotic species, metal carbides are integral to the development of alternative energy sources, including the well-known Fisher-Tropsch (F-T) process that is used to convert biomass-derived synthesis gas to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The proposed research aims to provide fundamental insight into the properties of elusive metal carbides by developing well-defined chemical models that include the metal ions commonly used in the F-T process. Successful isolation and characterization of these model compounds will help provide detailed knowledge regarding chemical structure and bonding that is relevant to understanding the F-T process. Moreover, these studies may also lead to new chemical transformations based on atomic carbon. Outreach activities focus on developing new modules for the Advance College Project, a dual enrollment partnership between Indiana University and regional high schools. This project focuses on research that combines synthetic, spectroscopic and physical studies in inorganic chemistry to create and understand late 3d metal carbide complexes. A critical aspect of this work is the development of a new carbon atom synthon that will be paired with a class of metal fragments known to stabilize metal ligand multiple bonds. Isolable carbide complexes will be characterized by standard and advanced structural and spectroscopic methods, with experimentally calibrated computational studies providing insight into their electronic structure. Complementary reactivity investigations will develop structure/function relationships through studies that probe the effect of the metal ion and/or oxidation state on the properties of the newly generated carbide ligands. A specific interest is the role of carbides in proton-coupled electron transfer reactions, which will allow for comparisons with other multiply bonded atomic ligands. Outreach activities that involve the development of inorganic-chemistry focused modules for the Advance College Project are expected to reach a wide audience of high school students. 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.