Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar

Abstract: Electronic structure considerations dictate the stability and/or reactivity of both mono- and polynuclear complexes. The utilization of weak-field ligands have enabled (1) the development of reactive iron-based reagents to catalyze C-H bond functionalization, and (2) directly control M-M interactions in polynuclear clusters to unveil a host of new physical properties. In the latter context, the close proximity of the metal ions within the polynuclear architectures enforce direct metal-orbital overlap, giving rise to fully delocalized electronic configurations. Within this delocalized framework, ligand alterations allows for tuning of the resultant electronic structure from low-spin to high-spin configurations. Within both bodies of chemistry, obtaining high-spin electronic configurations are necessary to achieve catalysis or small molecule activation.