Studying the Unique Nature of the Metal to Olefin Bond: Mapping the Reactivity Surface for Nucleophilic Attack on Metal Olefin Complexes When olefins (carbon-carbon double bonds) are bonded to a transition metal, their chemistry can become radically different. The metal orbitals allow the olefin to act both as a s donor and as a p acceptor. When the metal is electron poor, the olefin can be attacked by electron rich compounds (the opposite of what is normal for olefin chemistry). However, not all metal to olefin bonding is symmetric. Work in our lab seeks to build asymmetric metal olefin complexes and measure the kinetics for nucleophilic attack on the bound olefin. By measuring both asymmetry and the associated rates we hope to map the reactivity surface to gain insight into the widely used reaction.
