To access the Zoom link, please contact Elon Ison at eaison@ncsu.edu

About the Seminar:

Title: Design and Reactivity of Transition Metal-Based Sterically Frustrated Lewis Pairs

Abstract: Sterically frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) are composed of Lewis acids and bases containing bulky substituents that are unable to quench their respective acidities and basicities by forming acid-base adducts. As a result, FLP systems are able to induce the acute polarization and attendant activation of small molecule substrates. While transition metal ions are classified Lewis acids, they are relatively underexplored as components of FLP systems compared to their main group counterparts. In this talk, we discuss the design of FLP systems containing Cu+ and Zn2+ ions supported by tripodal, tris(2-(benzylidene)aminoethyl)amine ligands as the acidic component. The FLP behavior of these complexes when combined with bulky phosphine bases will be described, as well as their reactivity towards methane.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Clark received her Ph.D. in 2010 under the direction of Prof. Alan Heyduk at the University of California Irvine, which was followed by an NIH Post-doctoral Fellowship under the mentorship of Prof. Amir H. Hoveyda at Boston College (2010-2011). After completing her postdoctoral studies, she began work as a Research Chemist in the Polyolefins Catalyst and Product Development Group at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, LP (2011-2017). In 2017, Dr. Clark joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Memphis as tenure-track faculty. Her research interests include ligand design, development of transition metal-based electronic materials, synthetic organometallic chemistry, and catalysis.

For more information about Dr. Clark and her accomplishments, please refer to her research group website.