Arynes are potent electrophiles that are widely used in the synthesis of biologically active molecules. Reactions involving these intermediates are often plagued with poor selectivity and limited scope. In the Roberts group, we are interested in using transition metals to unlock new modes of aryne reactivity.

We have recently disclosed the use of iodoniobenzoates as powerful and diversifiable aryne precursors. We are now interested in using our organometallic expertise to harness metal-catalyzed reactions to 1) explore further methods to functionalize these precursors and obtain new aryne scaffolds, and 2) unlock novel metal-catalyzed aryne reactivity that is exclusive to these precursors.

Despite their high natural abundance Compared to late transition metals, early transition metals are under utilized in catalysis. This is primarily due to the fact that by lacking d electrons, these metals are not able to participate in fundamental organometallic reactions. In the Roberts group, we are interested in pairing d0 metals with redox active ligands as electron-reservoirs to enable new catalytic reactions.