PROMOTING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN INDIA AND THE U.S.
Bioinorganic chemistry, Chemistry
Georgetown University
Our research interests and expertise center around synthetic and mechanistic inorganic chemistry applied to organic synthesis and bioinorganic systems. We develop new synthetically useful C-H functionalization reactions based on synthetic and mechanistic studies of reactive copper intermediates. For instance, our group has isolated the first copper carbene and nitrene complexes that participate in C-C and C-N bond forming reactions. The detailed study of these and related reactive copper complexes has led to a host of new, synthetically useful C-H → C-N, C-O, and C-C bond forming reactions. Further efforts in green chemistry involve the use of “frustrated Lewis pairs” for the metal-free functionalization of hydrocarbons using only main group elements. We also examine the reactivity of nitric oxide, an important signaling molecule in Nature, and its biological relatives at synthetic complexes inspired by copper enzymes. These studies aid in the understanding of the molecular events involved in the processing of nitric oxide in biological systems.