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Nancy's Project Page - RISE summer 2005 |
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Intern: Nancy Braschayko, Biology, Lake Superior State University
Mentor: Jon Marhenke
Faculty Supervisor: Peter C. Ford
Department: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry |
PHOTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF VASKA’S COMPOUND, Rh(CO)2I2-, AND Rh(C(O)CH3)(CO)2I3-
Homogeneous catalysts are widely used in industry to
make products efficiently and selectively. Since catalysts
work by providing low-energy pathways for these chemical
reactions, the structure and reactivity of intermediates
along these pathways is of interest. Two types of laser
flash photolysis—time resolved optical and time resolved
infrared spectroscopy—are used to study the kinetics and
mechanisms of catalysts by generating the reactive
intermediates and studying them directly. The main
goal of this photochemical investigation is to attain
detailed information regarding the reactivity of three
species produced by photolysis— Vaska’s complex,
IrCO(PPh3)2Cl; Rh(CO)2I2-; and Rh(C(O)CH3)(CO)2I3-.
Previous work done with Vaska’s complex shows
conflicting views as to whether the photoproduct
is an iridium dimer or three-coordinate CO-loss species.
Similarly, species produced by photolysis of Rh(CO)2I2-
are being explored, with particular interest in the
mechanism of its reaction with CH3I. The reductive
elimination of Rh(C(O)CH3)(CO)2I3- to yield Rh(CO)2I2-
will also be investigated photochemically.
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