Alcohol oxidations and carbonyl reductions are two of the most basic reactions in organic chemistry. However, these reactions traditionally produce a stoichiometric amount of waste which can be toxic or hazardous. Therefore, the search for compounds that can successfully catalyze these reactions is an important development in organic synthesis. One of the goals of this research was to make these organic reactions more efficient and affordable by using iron-based catalysts. (Cyclopentadienone)iron tricarbonyl compounds have been shown to be active catalysts in transfer oxidations of alcohols and transfer reductions of carbonyl compounds, and catalyst activity is highly dependent upon cyclopentadienone substitution. We have synthesized a series of known and novel (cyclopentadienone)iron tricarbonyl compounds with varying cyclopentadienone substitution and examined their reactivities in a series of oxidation and reduction reactions with a goal of discovering a relationship between a catalyst's structure and its activity. The impact of cyclopentadienone substitution on catalyst activity will be presented.

Effect of cyclopentadienone substitution on the oxidative and reductive activities of iron catalysts

247th National Meeting (2014)

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