Nathan Jones Associate Professor Ph.D. British Columbia (Brian R. James) Killam PDF Alberta (Ronald G. Cavell)
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Inorganic, Organometallic and Nanomaterials Chemistry and Catalysis
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Awards:
PetroCanada Young Innovator's Award
Canada Foundation for Innovation New Opportunities Award
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Current Research Programs:
1. Asymmetric Catalysis: Ligand Design and Mechanistic Analysis
In an integrated approach to the development of fundamentally better (more active, more selective) metal-based catalysts for the synthesis of single enantiomers of small chiral molecules, we focus on three major areas: (i) development of small-scale combinatorial synthetic methods; (ii) mechanistic analysis; and (iii) high-throughput screening for enantiomeric excess.
Combinatorial synthesis: The modular development of chiral ligand libraries from cheap, optically pure and readily available starting materials using simple, high-yielding reactions represents an important and economically attractive approach to the discovery of new metal-based catalysts for asymmetric transformations. We are adopting this strategy in the synthesis of chiral complexes bearing N,N-chelating ligands. These complexes are subsequently used as catalysts in asymmetric C-C bond-forming reactions.
Mechanistic analysis: We use reaction calorimetry to determine the kinetics of catalyzed reactions and from these data formulate possible mechanisms. We then use the mechanistic proposals to inform the design and synthesis of next-generation catalysts.
High-throughput ee-screening: This remains a major stumbling block to the rapid discovery of good catalysts for asymmetric reactions. We are working, in collaboration with Prof. Silvia Mittler in the Physics Department here at Western, to develop a "colour test" for enantiomeric excess that we hope will be useful in the high-throughput analysis of large numbers of catalysts that emanate from combinatorial synthetic methods.
2. Nanoscale Fluorescent Materials for Biological Imaging Applications
Recent advances in organometallic chemistry have yielded straightforward and reliable routes to solution grown, monodisperse, semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots (QDs). The peculiar properties of QDs, which in many respects offer advantages over traditional organic dyes, make them attractive agents for bioimaging applications. Their key advantage is that their optical properties depend predictably on their size and therefore they can be "tuned" by making them larger or smaller as required.
In collaboration with Drs. Jeffrey Carson and Michael Kovacs in the Lawson Health Research Institute, we are working to make and test near-IR flurorescent probes based on QDs and other nanoscale objects in the optical imaging of cancerous cells, both in vitro and in vivo.
Selected Publications:
"Pyridinyloxazolidines: Versatile Scaffolds for Chiral Catalyst Construction" S. A. Cardile, M. C. Jennings and N. D. Jones J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 2006, 4672-4678.
"Thiolate-Capped PbS Nanocrystals in Water: Sensitivity to O2, pH and Concentration, an Alternate Pathway for Crystal Growth and a Top-Down Synthesis" A. L. P. Cornacchio and N. D. Jones J. Mater. Chem. 2006, 16, 1171-1177.
"Chelate and Pincer Carbene Complexes of Rhodium and Platinum Derived from Hexaphenylcarbodiphosphorane, Ph3P=C=PPh3" K. Kubo, N. D. Jones, M. J. Ferguson, R. McDonald and R. G. Cavell J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 5314-5315.
"Metal-metal Bonded Homo- and Heterobimetallic Complexes of Pt(I) and Pd(I) Supported by a Bridging-N,P:N',P' Moiety of a Potentially Hexadentate Ligand" N. D. Jones, S. J.-L. Foo, B. O. Patrick and B. R. James Inorg. Chem. 2004, 43, 4056-4063.
"A Tris(carbene) Pincer Complex: Monomeric Pt-carbonyl with Three Bound Carbene Centres" G. Lin, N. D. Jones, R. A. Gossage, R. McDonald and R. G. Cavell Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 4054-4057.
