B.S., 1979, University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., 1984, California Institute of Technology Postdoctoral Fellow, 1984-1985, University of Wisconsin Postdoctoral Fellow, 1985-1986, University of California, San Diego

Inorganic/Organometallic Chemistry

Our research program centers on the application of novel perfluorinated phosphine ligands (“PFAP’s”) to a variety of challenging problems in metal coordination chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. This class of ligand mimics the electronic properties of the classic pi--acceptor ligand carbon monoxide while possessing substantially greater steric influence and chemical inertness, allowing us to synthesize a wide range of highly electrophilic "Teflon-coated" transition metal complexes with unique chemical properties. Aside from their interesting coordination properties, PFAP complexes can be exploited in homogeneous catalysis. Current applications being explored in our group include group 10 metal olefin oligomerization and alkane dehydrogenation and selective oxidation chemistry.