Exterior Decorating: Harnessing Non-Covalent Interactions for Cooperative Chemistry
Marcus W. Drover
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Western University
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
2:30 p.m.
In-person: C2-361 (Reading Room)
Abstract: Our work spans the traditional bounds of synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry, with a goal to develop new molecules that promote the equitable use of resources, specifically with respect to global hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles. Collectively, we are motivated by a desire to revise the way in which humans interact with the planet by inventing ways to utilize greenhouse gasses as feedstocks, designing new catalysts for clean energy, and providing better methods for the synthesis of specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and bulk consumer products. In this lecture, I will discuss several new ambiphilic diphosphine ligands that host Lewis acidic (boron-containing) secondary coordination spheres (SCSs). Diphosphines are ubiquitous in synthetic chemistry with modifications to backbone length and R substituent leading to dramatic differences in net reactivity. Preparative routes towards such scaffolds, ensuing coordination chemistry with late transition metals, and reactivity with small molecules such as CO2 will be shared.
For relevant contributions, see:
1. Drover, M.W. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2022, 51, 1861-1880.
2. Zurakowski, J. A.; Austen, B. J. H.; Drover, M.W. Trends Chem. 2022, 4, 331-346.
3. Clapson, M. L.; Durfy, C. S.; Faccchinato, D.; Drover, M.W. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2023, ASAP.
4. Zurakowski, J. A.; Drover, M. W. Chem. Commun. 2023, ASAP.
5. Clapson, M. L.; Sharma, H.; Zurakowski, J. A.; Drover, M. W. Chem. -Eur. J. 2023, 29, e202203763.
Marcus W. Drover is an Assistant Professor at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. He received a B.Sc. (Hons.) from Memorial University of Newfoundland (2012), a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of British Columbia with Laurel L. Schafer and Jennifer A. Love (2016), and performed postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology with Jonas C. Peters (2017-2019). Drover was recipient of a Vanier scholarship (2013-2016), Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (held at Oxford with Andrew S. Weller), Banting and Resnick Postdoctoral Fellowships (2017-2019), and was most recently awarded the Polanyi Prize in Chemistry (2020), for his work as an early-career researcher in the province of Ontario. He is member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Organometallics and the Journal of Coordination Chemistry. Drover’s research team are devoted to exploiting inorganic and main group chemistry for application in sustainability science. External to work, Marcus enjoys travelling/exploring new things and spending time with his family, including his two French Bulldogs, Merlot and Cookie.