Cationic Late Transition Metal Complexes for Selective α-C–H Functionalization

About the Seminar

We describe the discovery and development of catalytic α-C–H functionalization reactions of simple unsaturated hydrocarbons, including alkynes, alkenes, and allenes, using cationic cyclopentadienyliron(II) dicarbonyl complexes. These complexes enable the development of a new mode of catalytic C–H functionalization in which metal coordination to a π-bond facilitates the deprotonation of a neighboring C–H bond. The implementation of this strategy resulted in mild, functional group tolerant, and regioselective transformations for the coupling of unsaturated hydrocarbons with aldehydes, iminiums, and other readily available or easily accessed carbon electrophiles. Investigations into the reaction mechanism and the discovery and optimization of new ligand systems are discussed.  Extensions of this approach to other transition metal catalysts for stereoselective transformations are also described.

About the Speaker

Yiming Wang was born in Shanghai, China and grew up in Colorado, USA.  He graduated with an A.B./A.M. degree in chemistry & physics and mathematics from Harvard University in 2008 after conducting research in the group of Professor Andrew Myers. After obtaining his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Dean Toste at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013, he conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Stephen Buchwald at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow.  He joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 2017.