Abstract:
This thesis defense will describe the employment of the bis(2-pyridylthio)methyl ligand (Bptm) to obtain the terminal zinc hydride compound, [Bptm]ZnH, which serves as a catalyst for the reduction of CO2 and other carbonyl compounds via hydrosilylation and hydroboration. This reactivity is noteworthy, as the catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide, particularly with catalysts that employ nonprecious metals, is of considerable interest with respect to its use as a feedstock for organic chemicals. In addition, a variety of other mononuclear and dinuclear derivatives, [Bptm]ZnX (e.g. X = Me, N(SiMe3)2, and O2CH) and {[Bptm]Zn(μ-F)}2, have been synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction, with the latter affording access to a rare example of a zinc trifluoromethyl complex, [Bptm]ZnCF3. Corresponding cadmium complexes have also been obtained and feature significant structural distinctions from their zinc counterparts. Two additional projects concerned with main group metal chemistry will briefly be discussed, namely the synthesis and structural characterization of (i) a series of magnesium complexes supported by unsubstituted 2,2’:6,2”-terpyridine, and (ii) zinc and cadmium complexes featuring a zwitterionic carboxylate ligand, N-(4-carboxybenzyl)pyridinium (Cbp), including the revisiting of an erroneous structure previously reported for the zinc bromide complex, (Cbp)2ZnBr2.
