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 - Madison 1994

B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College 1989

Research Areas:
Synthesis, Inorganic, Organic

Liu, C., and R. A. Widenhoefer. “Palladium-Catalyzed Cyclization/Carboalkoxylation of Alkenyl Indoles,.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 126, 2004, pp. 10246–47.

Han, X., et al. “"Palladium-Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroalkylation of Alkenyl - β - Keto Esters, -Aryl Ketones, and Alkyl Ketones in the presence of Me3SiCl or HCI".” Chem. Eur J., vol. 10, 2004, pp. 6332–42.

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

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