Events in inorganic chemistry.

Mechanistic Studies on Ruthenium Catalyzed Olefin Metathesis

The recent discovery of stable 14 electron ruthenium phosphonium alkylidenes related to the Grubbs olefin metathesis catalyst portfolio has allowed us to probe the properties of the intermediates in the catalytic cycle for this important reaction. The synthesis and properties of these phosphonium alkylidenes will be discussed, and their conversion into ruthenacyclobutanes via reaction with olefins will be presented. Detailed NMR spectroscopic studies reveal the structural and dynamic properties of these previously unobservable intermediates.

Hybrid Inorganic-Nucleic Acid Structures

The rational organization of transition metal ions that have unpaired electrons can lead to nano-scale systems with magnetic and electronic properties useful for nanotechnology and molecular electronics applications. We use as scaffold for the organization of transition metal-ion peptide nucleic acid (PNA), a synthetic analog of DNA that forms helical duplexes by Watson-Crick hybridization. The incorporation of ligands in complementary PNA oligomers makes possible the formation of a duplex that binds metal ions at predefined locations.

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