Title: Oriented Electric Fields as Future Smart Reagents in Chemistry

Speaker: Prof. Sason Shaik, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Date/Time: 9:00-10:30 AM, Nov. 17 (Fri.)

Location: Room 202, Lujiaxi Building

Abstract:

Oriented external-electric-fields (OEEFs) as “smart reagents” are no longer a theoretical dream.  The  talk  discusses  the  wide-ranging  potential  of  using  OEEFs  to  catalyze  and control a variety of non-redox reactions and impart selectivity at will.[1]  An OEEF along the  direction  of  electron  reorganization,   the  so-called  “reaction  axis”,  will  catalyze nonpolar  reactions,  control  regioselectivity   and  induce  spin-state  selectivity.  Simply flipping the direction of the OEEF or orienting it off of the reaction-axis, will control at will, the endo/exo ratio in Diels-Alder reactions and steps in enzymatic catalytic cycles. The talk will try to highlight these outcomes using theoretical results for H-abstraction reactions, epoxidation of double bonds, C-C bond making reactions, proton transfers, and the  cycle  of  the  enzyme  cytochrome  P450,  as  well  as  recent  experimental  data.  We postulate  that,  as  experimental  techniques  mature,  chemical  syntheses  may  become  an exercise in zapping oriented molecules with OEEFs!
 
[1]  S. Shaik, D. Mandal, R. Ramanan, Nature Chem. 8, 1091 (2016).