The Basemann Lab brings together techniques of inorganic and organic synthetic techniques, organic and organometallic catalysis, chemical engineering, computational chemistry, and machine learning to understand and control the electronic structures of organometallic and organic catalysts. Our goal is to advance the use of sustainable techniques and catalysts for the new and emerging applications that catalysts will see in the 21st century. In particular our goal is to advance the understanding and ability to industrially apply iron in various catalytic reactions because it is more abundant, less environmentally damaging, and more biologically benign then other traditional transition metal species.

 

Members of the Basemann Lab will learn techniques in inorganic and organic synthesis, an array of analytical techniques to identify and characterize compounds, and computational techniques to understand the electronic structures of the complexes and reactions we study. This will impart a wide array of skills and an appreciation for interdisciplinary and collaborative research and will advance creative thinking that challenges the assumptions that tend to be made about any singular discipline in chemistry and will grow to become talented independent scientists.

 

Fe Catalyzed Cross Coupling

Cross coupling reactions are a well established reaction that are used ubiquitously throughout the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. This reaction unfortunately relies upon the use of transition metals that are expensive, rare, and toxic both to humans and the environment such as palladium, platinum, and rhodium. The Basemann Lab is working on developing new catalytic systems using the more sustainable and environmentally benign metal iron. We are not looking to only replace the more traditional catalysts used in cross coupling reactions, we are also looking to use the unique reactivity of iron to unlock new cross coupling reactions and advance catalysis.

 

Novel Low Valent Fe Compounds for C-H Bond Activation

High valent iron has been a target for the oxidation of C-H bonds for decades. More recently low valent iron species have been found to activate C-H bonds as well unlocking new reactions that are not possible with the high valent counterparts. To date though only a handful of low valent iron species have been isolated and applied to this chemistry. The goal of the Basemann Lab is to use a variety of ligands to synthesize and isolate low valent iron catalysts and apply them to new C-H bond activation reactions.

 

Mechanistic Studies on Fe Catalyzed Reactions

Iron chemistry is a growing field of research and many novel reactions are being developed for applications in energy science, pharmaceuticals, and fundamental research. The goal of the Basemann Lab is to understand these mechanisms through the use of computational chemistry tools. In particular we are interested in understanding how ligands, solvents, and additives change the reactivity of iron complexes.