Executive Summary : | To synthesize various building blocks to produce functional materials and organic chemicals, the most acceptable reaction at an industry level is the hydrosilylation of unsaturated compounds such as alkenes, alkynes, carbonyls, and other functional groups is to build a sustainable and economically viable catalytic system that can catalyze hydrosilylation of various unsaturated compounds such as alkenes, alkynes, and carbonyls to prepare various organosilane compounds as precursors for wider application. The organosilicon products are utilized in various consumer products such as cosmetics, automobile tyres, contact lenses, textiles, and paints. These compounds are also utilized as adjuvants in the agricultural industry and as release coatings for labels and tapes. The precious metal catalysts containing Pt, Rh, Ir, or Ru have served for the past five decades in these transformations reaction in the silicones industry. The costs of precious metal catalysts contribute to the market price of silicones which has long been recognized. It was desired to drive intensive research in the development of earth-abundant metal catalysts due to the cost associated with the precious metals market, toxicity in heavy metals, and the environmental damage caused by the mining of rare elements in the Earth crust. The primary objectives of the proposed proposal are to study the chemistry of earth-abundant metal complexes using original unsymmetrical N- and P-containing functionalized ligands and their catalytic reactivity. In this project, a series of earth-abundant metal complexes will be synthesized using different multi-dentate ligands and they will be well characterized. These complexes will be utilized for the hydrosilylation of alkenes, alkynes, and carbonyl compounds with different hydrosilanes to achieve the organosilanes. The optimization of the reaction and mechanism of the catalytic transformation will be fully explored to fine-tune the catalyst's design. Thus, from this project, by developing high-performing and robust catalysts using earth-abundant metals for highly efficient organosilane production from carbonyls, alkynes, and alkenes, we will be able to effectively fill the gap in environmentally benign earth-abundant catalytic systems' cost-effectively. As such, this constitutes a fully innovative project. The emphasis will lay on the generation of new knowledge in the areas of organometallic chemistry of earth-abundant metals (and beyond, of related oxophilic metals), molecular catalysis and fine chemicals synthesis. |