Subsequent projects
Prof. Dr. Karsten Meyer
Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie
Prof. Dr. Paula Diaconescu
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Synthesis and Characterization of U-Based Electrocatalysts for H2 Production from Water
Metal–ligand cooperativity is emerging as a new promising tool to enhance complex reactivity and tune the electronic structure of metal catalysts. Previous studies have shown that the iron center of ferrocene based ligand systems acts as a redox switch influencing the reactivity of e.g. Y, In, Ce and Ru coordination complexes. Based on this tuning ability, uranium coordination to such ferrocene based chelators appears to be a promising approach to improve the recently discovered electro catalytic activation of water by uranium metal complexes. Preliminary studies on U–Fe metal complexes of the ferrocene based ligand system strongly suggest metal-metal interactions that are prerequisite for exciting and unprecedented redox-chemistry with great potential for H2O activation and H2 production. Accordingly, this project aims at the discovery and development of mixed iron – uranium compounds comprising several newly designed ligand systems. This will allow to study and improve the cooperative redox effects ultimately enhancing the uranium mediated electro catalytic H2O conversion to H2 and O2.
Primary project: Probing f-Orbital Interactions and Magnetic Exchange Phenomena in Uranium Chemistry