ABSTRACT

Main group Lewis acids for applications in catalysis and anion transport

Research in the Gabbaï group has been dedicated to the synthesis and study of Lewis acidic main group compounds with the development of applications in molecular recognition and catalysis as the ultimate goals.  This seminar will highlight a series of recent results obtained in pursuit of these goals.  The first part of the presentation will focus on the chemistry of antimony- and carbon-based Z-type ligands and their demonstrated ability to modulate the catalytic reactivity of adjacent metal centers.  The second part of the presentation will show how boron and antimony-based Lewis acids can be deployed in aqueous media to effectively transport a range of anions across phospholipid bilayers in artificial vesicles as well as in live cells.