Chemical reactions involving human-synthesized catalysts require less energy and/or generate more product than uncatalyzed reactions. This research looks towards converting basic carbon compounds into more sophisticated products, such as an important fundamental component of many medicines known as benzimidazole. In recent literature investigating such catalysts, a ruthenium-centered organometallic complex was found to significantly catalyze the reaction of formaldehyde and diaminobenzene to form benzimidazole. This research investigates additional Ru-centered organometallic complexes as potential catalysts for the same reaction. So far in this multiple year project, [Ru(tptz)(H2O)Cl2]+ has been synthesized and characterized. In addition, a study was performed of the effect of several parameters (light wavelength, exposure time, concentration) on the catalytic efficiency of [Ru(bpy)3]2+ (bpy is the bipyridyl ligand), which is known to enhance the synthesis of benzimidazole. Currently, the characterization of the second complex, Ru(dpk)(DMSO)2Cl2 is in progress, where dpk is a di-2-pyridyl ketone ligand. The efficiency of the Ru(dpk)(DMSO)2Cl2 complex as a catalyst will then be compared to [Ru(tptz)(H2O)Cl2]+ and the known catalyst [Ru(bpy)3]2+in order to determine which complex will work best in catalyzing the reaction to produce benzimidazole.

Ruthenium centered organometallic catalysts for benzimidazole synthesis

251st National Meeting (2016)

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