Missions

- bibliographic searches and analyses, design ligands and gold complexes
- synthesis, purification and caracterisation of the ligands and complexes of interest
- study of their properties (redox, reactivity)
- reporting, preparation of supporting information (experimental procedures & analytical data), drafting of publications

Activités

- preparation, caracterisation and study of Au Complexes

Compétences

The candidate should be well-trained in the synthesis, purification and caracterisation of organometallic complexes. Expertise in catalysis , electrochemistry, XRD, EPR and DFT calculations would be a plus, but is not mandatory. The candidate should have a good sense of communication (oral and written), including in English.

Contexte de travail

Environment: The LHFA is affiliated to CNRS and UPS. It is located in the chemistry building of UPS, 118 route de Narbonne, Toulouse.
The LHFA gathers 6 research teams (about 70-80 people). Its core activity is the synthesis and study of original molecules, highly reactive species.
Host team: LBPB, see the corresponding website for more details

Contraintes et risques

Nothing to declare

Informations complémentaires

Context: Despite major progress over the past 2-3 decades, the chemistry of gold lags well behind that of the other transition metals. The unique properties of gold are now well-recognized and exploited in catalysis, material sciences as well as biology. Nonetheless, the chemical space of gold remains very limited. Only Au(I) and Au(III) complexes are known essentially. Other oxidation states remain curiosities or are simply unknown. This is particularly true for Au(0) complexes which are however extremely attractive as molecular models for gold clusters and intermediates en route to nano-sized gold species. But so far, the quest for stable Au(0) species has resulted in only 3 relevant complexes. They all involve strongly accepting ligands that withdraw electron density from gold (the spin density at the metal is 24% at best) and alleviate the Au(0) character.
Objectives and research plan: In a new long-term project funded by an ERC grant, it is our aim to expand further the chemical space of gold, in terms of structure, reactivity as well as applications. In this post-doc project, it is the aim to prepare and study true Au(0) complexes. We'll take advantage of our expertise in ligand design and gold chemistry under ligand control to access and stabilize Au(0) complexes retaining high spin density at gold. Chelating ligands will be employed to prevent dissociation and provide steric shielding. The Au(0) species will be prepared by electrochemical and/or chemical reduction. Their structure will be thoroughly analyzed by experimental and computational means. Their reactivity will be explored, with special interest for radical-reactivity at gold, a very uncommon behaviour.