ABOUT
Research in the Turculet group spans the areas of synthetic inorganic/organometallic chemistry, and catalysis. We target the preparation of reactive transition metal complexes that exhibit new and/or improved reactivity properties by virtue of their unique construction, with the goal of utilizing these complexes as catalysts for new chemical transformations. Our current efforts are focused on two primary ligand classes:
(1) PSiP bis(phosphino)silyl pincer ligands, and
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(2) mono-anionic, bidentate N-phosphinoamidinate P,N-ligands.
​We are actively studying the coordination chemistry of such ligands with late transition metals, including Earth-abundant first row metals, and exploring the reactivity of the ensuing complexes in challenging E-H (E = C, N, etc.) bond cleavage chemistry and catalytic processes such as alkene and carbonyl reductions.
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Synthesis of Bis(phosphino)silyl Pincer-Supported Iron Hydrides for the Catalytic Hydrogenation of Alkenes
L. J. Murphy, M. Ferguson, R. McDonald, M. D. Lumsden, and Laura Turculet* (Organometallics 2018, 37, 4814−4826).
Activation of Molecular Hydrogen and Oxygen by PSiP Complexes of Cobalt
L. J. Murphy, A. J. Ruddy, R. McDonald, M. Ferguson, and Laura Turculet* (Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 4481-4493).
Selective Ni-Catalyzed Hydroboration of CO2 to the Formaldehyde Level Enabled by New PSiP Ligation
L. J. Murphy, H. Hollenhorst, R. McDonald, M. Ferguson, M. D. Lumsden, and Laura Turculet* (Organometallics 2017, 36, 3709-3720).
Alkene Isomerization-Hydroboration Catalyzed by First-Row Transition Metal (Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) N-Phosphinoamidinate Complexes: Origin of Reactivity and Selectivity
C. Macaulay, S. Gustafson, J. Fuller, T. Ogawa, M. Ferguson, R. McDonald, M. Lumsden, S. Bischof, O. Sydora,* D. Ess,* M. Stradiotto,* and Laura Turculet* (ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 9907-9925).
A Manganese Pre-Catalyst: Mild Reduction of Amides, Ketones, Aldehydes, and Esters
C. M. Kelly, R. McDonald, O. L. Sydora,* M. Stradiotto,* and Laura Turculet* (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 15901-15904).
