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2900 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR 97331
Jacque Laddusaw
The ability of chemists to predict the products of a reaction given a set of conditions is an integral part of the ability to synthesize compounds that conquer diseases and influence biology. Over half a century ago, R. B. Woodward and R. Hoffman created a set of these rules called the Woodward-Hoffman rules, which help predict which reactions involving conjugated organic molecules can proceed (thermally allowed) and which ones would not proceed (thermally forbidden). The reaction highlighted in this seminar is a Woodward-Hoffman thermally forbidden reaction that is selective for forbidden product over the predicted one. In collaboration with the synthetic chemists of the Brenner-Moyer group from Rutgers, DFT computations were used to explore the atomic structure of the pivotal ring-opening transition states to explain the selectivity. In this seminar, I will discuss the unusual mechanism of this reaction and the factors which influence the selectivity for the forbidden product.
Seth Harbol
Carbon dioxide has become infamous for its role as a greenhouse gas and many enterprises have been launched to capture and sequester it from the atmosphere. One such approach is to use Frustrated Lewis Pairs (FLPs) as catalysts for the capture and hydrogenation of carbon dioxide. In this seminar, I will discuss our design and efforts towards the synthesis of a novel Frustrated Lewis Pair catalyst for the selective reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol. While most FLPs used for carbon dioxide capture feature a Lewis acidic metal and a Lewis basic ligand, our catalyst design targets a Lewis acidic ligand in conjunction with a Lewis basic transition metal. I will discuss our progress in the synthesis of our target catalyst and how the catalyst will ideally function in the reduction of carbon dioxide.Event Details
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