High-valent Co2(μ-O)2 Diamond CoreComplexes: New Bio-inspired Strategies for

Aliphatic C-H Bond ActivationPresented By: Dr. Dong Wang

University of Montana

The activation of carbon-hydrogen (C–H) bonds is the first step of functionalizing hydrocarbons.This transformation is a key step in many biological and synthetic processes. Soluble methanemonooxygenase (sMMO) is a representative example of nonheme dinuclear iron enzymes thathydroxylate strong aliphatic C-H bonds at mild conditions by a high-valent FeIV2(μ-O)2 “diamondcore” intermediate. One of our research thrust is to develop bio-inspired high-valent M2(μ-O)2 complexes of late-transition metals for activating and functionalizing inert aliphatic C-H bonds.Recently, we generated a mixed-valent CoIII,IV2(μ-O)2 species by one-electron oxidation of itsCoIII2(μ-O)2 precursor, and characterized it by combined spectroscopic and computationalapproaches. Interestingly, this high-valent species cleaves strong aliphatic C-H bonds with decentrate constants even at cryo-temperatures to afford the oxygenated products in quantitative yields.This effort will lead to the development of more effective approaches for aliphatic C-H bondfunctionalization and new discoveries of the high-valent diamond core chemistry for late-transitionmetals in the near future.

October 4 - 4 PMSMLC 102