Main group Imides and Phosphides.

Research during my Ph.D. thesis involved the synthesis of a range of imido and phosphinidene complexes, in which dianionic RN^2- and RP^2- ligands are used to bind mixed-metal arrangements together. Our approach made significant in-roads into the chemistry of imido and phosphinidine main group chemistry, involving the synthesis of novel mixed-metal arrangements for materials applications and uncovering a wealth of new chemistry.

Selected publications:

• Quadruple Deprotonation of 2-Amino-Phenyl Phosphine Using a Sn(NMe₂)₂/nBuLi Reagent. F. García et al., Angew. Chem., 2005, 44, 3456-3459. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200500340 (highlighted in science editor’s choice, Vol 308, Number 5724, Issue of 13 May 2005).
• Synthesis and structure of [{MeAl(µ-PMes)(PMes)}₂Li₄]^2-·7thf, containing a [MeAl(µ-PMes)(PMes)]24- tetraanion (Mes = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2). F. García et al., Chem. Commun., 2003, 2052-2053. DOI: 10.1039/b305259a.
• Synthesis of a deca-lithium cage containing an [(RN)₂As(µ-NR)As(NR)₂]^4- tetraanion; a homologue of group 15 trianions of the type [E(NR)₃]^3-. A. D. Bond et al., Chem. Commun., 2002, 1276-1277. DOI: 10.1039/b202858a.

Inverse Coordination of Metal Salts.

A novel aspect discovered during my Junior Research Fellowship was the possibility of modifying the structures of ionic compounds into molecular arrangements, to give materials with unusual properties such as low melting points and solubility in organic solvents.  Modification of an ionic lattice can be achieved by various conventional methods such as coordination of the cation by a Lewis base or confinement in a nano-tube inter alia.  We developed a novel approach by which alkali metal salt lattices can be modified is by coordination of the anion, opposite to the conventional coordination of the cation and thus can be termed inverse coordination.

Selected publications: 

• Confinement of halide ions within homologous inverse coordination hosts modification of halide-ion selectivity.Felipe García et al., J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun, 2011, 1821-1823. DOI: 10.1039/C0CC04483K.
• Structural and Theoretical Study of the Selectivity of [MeE(PPh)₃Li₄] as ‘Inverse Ligands’ Toward Coordination of Halide Ions (E= Al, Ga, In). M. J. Duer et al., Chem. Eur. J.,2007, 12511260. DOI: 10.1002/chem.200600781.
• Inverse Coordination of an ionic lattice by a metal host. M. J. Duer et al., Angew. Chem., 2005,44, 5729. DOI:10.1002/anie.200501198.

Synthetic Strategies to Photoactive Materials.

Another aspect discovered during my JRF Wolfson College and College Lectureship at Newnham and Trinity Colleges is that “simple” inorganic synthetic methodologies can we used for the multigram production of photoactive materials. During our studies we  demonstrated that we can achieve photocatalysts that are active in the visible region by introducing main group elements (N and B) controlled and reproducible nitrogen doping into Titanium oxide (TiO₂) producing N-doped titania  with photocatalytic activity in the visible spectrum was obtained using large-scale synthesis in solution.

Selected publications: 

• Efficient visible light-active N-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts by a reproducible and controllable synthetic route. S. In et al., Chem. Commun., 2006, 4236-4238. DOI: 10.1039/b610316b.
• Effective visible light-active B-doped TiO₂ photocatalysts compared with N-doped TiO₂ and B,N-codoped TiO₂. S. In at al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129, 13790. DOI: 10.1021/ja0749237.