Ulrich Fekl

Academic Title: Associate Professor

Phone: 905-828-3806

Office: SB4045

Email:

Research Homepage: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=fekl

Modern organic synthesis is almost unthinkable without the use of transition metals. I am interested in the fundamental mechanistic understanding and in the further development of transition metal systems for organic transformations. One example is the activation of unreactive C-H bonds in hydrocarbons and their conversion into useful functionalities (for a review article, see the first of the selected publications below):

R-H -› R-X (X = Cl, OH, NH2…)

Another current objective is the use of transition metal complexes as well-defined Lewis-acids for selective catalytic applications. The detailed mechanistic understanding is of interest as well as the development of novel catalysts.

A different goal of study is the interaction of sulfur-containing metal centers with unsaturated molecules, where detailed mechanistic studies are also aimed at developing novel organic transformations.

Students working on the projects indicated here will become familiar with a variety of extremely useful techniques including NMR spectroscopy, kinetics using UV-Vis/NIR detection (including fast reactions with a stopped-flow instrument), and working under air-free conditions. Projects can become "very inorganic" or "very organic" depending on the interests of the student.

Daniel J. Harrison, Alan J. Lough, Neilson Nguyen, and Ulrich Fekl, "Push-Pull Molybdenum Trisdithiolenes Allow Rapid Nonconventional Binding of Ethylene at Ligand Sulfur Atoms" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007 , 46 , 7644-7647.

Vicki Hsieh, Antonio G. De Crisci, Alan J. Lough, and Ulrich Fekl, "Lewis-Acidity of Trimethylplatinum(IV) with Labile Oxygen-Donor Ligands" Organometallics 2007 , 26 , 938-944.

Daniel J. Harrison, Neilson Nguyen, Alan J. Lough, and Ulrich Fekl, "New Insight into Reactions of Ni(S2C2(CF3)2)2 with Simple Alkenes: Alkene Adduct versus Dihydrodithiin Product Selectivity is Controlled by [Ni(S2C2(CF3)2)2]- Anion" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006 , 128 , 11026-11027.

Ulrich Fekl, Werner Kaminsky, and Karen I. Goldberg, "beta-Diiminate Platinum Complexes for Alkane Dehydrogenation". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003 , 125 , 15286-15287.