RUI: Organic Chemistry of Hypervalent Compounds

With the support of the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program, Professor Viktor V. Zhdankin, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, is exploring the chemistry of hypervalent compounds of iodine and xenon. His studies include the preparation and structural characterization of novel, stable complexes of hypervalent iodine and xenon with chelating nitrogen ligands, a search for catalytic reactions utilizing hypervalent iodine, the development of new oxidizing agents based on benziodazoles, and the preparation, structural study, and exploration of the reactivity of mixed phosphonium-iodonium ylides and imides.

With this Research in Undergraduate Institutions award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research efforts of Professor Viktor V. Zhdankin, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Through the study of new structural types of compounds containing iodine or xenon, Professor Zhdankin will enhance our understanding of the structure and reactivity of these unusual compounds, develop new reagents and procedures for organic synthesis, and search for new compounds with unusual and useful properties. Undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota, Duluth and from other universities will carry out these studies.