Faculty Profiles

Ross A. Widenhoefer
Ross A. Widenhoefer
Professor of Chemistry
Office: 
124 Science Drive, 2101 French Science Center, Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 
(919) 660-1533
Fax: 
(919) 660-1605
ross.widenhoefer@duke.edu
Widenhoefer Research Group
Research Interests: 

Research in the Widenhoefer group is directed toward the development and mechanistic analysis of new organotransition metal-catalyzed transformations for application in the synthesis of functionalized organic molecules. In particular, our group has a long-standing interest in the functionalization of C–C multiple bonds with carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles catalyzed by electrophilic late transition metal complexes, with a recent focus on the synthetic and mechanistic aspect of gold(I) pi-activation catalysis. Current areas of inquiry include the following: 1) Gold(I) and Pt(II)-catalyzed hydroamination of alkenes an allenes. 2) Gold(I)-catalyzed dehydrative amination of underivatized allylic alcohols. 3) Synthesis and study of cationic, two-coordinate gold pi-complexes. 4) Evaluating the role of bis(gold) complexes in gold pi-activation catalysis. More detailed descriptions of these research projects can be found at our group web page.

Overview

Education:

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin at Madison 1994

B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College 1989

Research Areas:
Synthesis, Inorganic, Organic

Goj, L. A., et al. “Dramatic effect of homoallylic substitution on the rate of palladium-catalyzed diene cycloisomerization.” Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, vol. 687, no. 2, Dec. 2003, pp. 498–507. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.jorganchem.2003.09.046. Full Text

Wang, Xiang, et al. “Palladium-catalyzed intramolecular hydroalkylation of unactivated olefins with dialkyl ketones..” Organic Letters, vol. 5, no. 15, July 2003, pp. 2699–701. Epmc, doi:10.1021/ol034879+. Full Text

Qian, Hua, and Ross A. Widenhoefer. “Mechanism of the palladium-catalyzed intramolecular hydroalkylation of 7-octene-2,4-dione..” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 125, no. 8, Feb. 2003, pp. 2056–57. Epmc, doi:10.1021/ja0293002. Full Text

Chakrapani, Harinath, et al. “Enantioselective cyclization/hydrosilylation of 1,6-enynes catalyzed by a cationic rhodium bis(phosphine) complex..” Organic Letters, vol. 5, no. 2, Jan. 2003, pp. 157–59. Epmc, doi:10.1021/ol027196n. Full Text

Pei, Tao, et al. “Palladium-catalyzed intramolecular oxidative alkylation of unactivated olefins..” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 125, no. 3, Jan. 2003, pp. 648–49. Epmc, doi:10.1021/ja026317b. Full Text

Liu, G., and R. A. Widenhoefer. “Cyclization/hydrosilylation of functionalized diynes catalyzed by a cationic rhodium bis(phosphine) complex.” Organometallics, vol. 21, no. 25, Dec. 2002, pp. 5666–73. Scopus, doi:10.1021/om020643i. Full Text

Widenhoefer, Ross A. “Synthetic and mechanistic studies of the cycloisomerization and cyclization/hydrosilylation of functionalized dienes catalyzed by cationic palladium(II) complexes..” Accounts of Chemical Research, vol. 35, no. 10, Oct. 2002, pp. 905–13. Epmc, doi:10.1021/ar010040n. Full Text

Wang, Xiang, et al. “Cyclization/hydrosilylation of functionalized 1,6-diynes catalyzed by cationic platinum complexes containing bidentate nitrogen ligands..” The Journal of Organic Chemistry, vol. 67, no. 9, May 2002, pp. 2778–88. Epmc, doi:10.1021/jo015986p. Full Text

Wang, X., et al. “Palladium-catalyzed ring-opening cyclization/hydrosilylation of 1-cyclopropyl-1,6-heptadienes to form (E)-1-butenyl cyclopentanes.” Organometallics, vol. 21, no. 5, Mar. 2002, pp. 901–05. Scopus, doi:10.1021/om010907l. Full Text

Pei, Tao, and Ross A. Widenhoefer. “Palladium-catalyzed cyclization of alkenyl beta-keto esters in the presence of chlorotrimethylsilane..” Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England), no. 6, Mar. 2002, pp. 650–51. Epmc, doi:10.1039/b111644d. Full Text

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