Date of Award:

5-2016

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Committee Chair(s)

Lisa M. Berreau

Committee

Lisa M. Berreau

Committee

Alvan C. Hengge

Committee

Cheng-Wei T. Chang

Committee

David Hole

Committee

Yujie Sun

Abstract

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on the oxidative cleavage of chemical bonds between two carbon atoms. This type of reactivity is of significant interest due to its potential application toward the development of ways to convert chemical feed stock into useful products such as pharmaceuticals, polymers and fuels in an environmentally benign and cost-efficient manner. Reactions that cleave specific carbon-carbon bonds, are catalyzed by earth-abundant metals, and involve O2 as the terminal oxidant, are of particular interest.

Our strategy has been to study the oxidative carbon-carbon bond cleavage reactivity of metal complexes containing components similar to structures found nature. The results presented herein demonstrate that such reactions are highly sensitive to the nature of the metal/organic combination undergoing reaction, and that subtle factors can dramatically influence the rate of such reactions. Outcomes of the research include the discovery of a way to modulate the reactivity of potential anti-cancer compounds and insight into how Cu(II) centers can be tuned for O2 reactivity.

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Included in

Chemistry Commons

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