Date: Monday, 23 November 2015
Time: 10h30
Venue: Avogadro (Room 3.22), Chemistry Building

The popularity of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as ligands in homogeneous catalysis has been spurred in particular by the development of the second generation Grubbs catalyst for olefin metathesis, in which carbene coordination to the ruthenium center greatly enhances the catalytic activity. Since, much efforts have been devoted to further modify and improve ruthenium complexes for metathesis applications.
This talk aims to emphasize a variety of catalytic applications beyond olefin metathesis. In particular, the redox-lability of the metal center provides attractive opportunities for electron transfer processes (molecular switches) as well as for catalytic redox reactions. We have exploited catalytic opportunities in particular by using mesoionic carbenes, which do not possess a neutral resonance form and hence can serve as proton and electron relais. Such features paired with the redox ability of the metal center impart attractive properties for (transfer) hydrogenations as well as for (acceptorless) dehydrogenation and oxidation reactions.

Contact person: Marilé Landman Tel: (012) 420 2527
E‐mail: [email protected]