Welcome to the Young Group at The University of Toledo

Overview of Our Research

Research in The Young Lab focuses on applying supramolecular principles towards greener transition metal catalysis with a special emphasis on C–H activation and new ligands for supporting traditional catalysts.

December 2019

Get Outta Here!

Congrats to Master of Science student Justin Maxwell on successfully defending his Master's thesis, and officially becoming the first graduate of the Young Group! Good luck in the future!

December 2019

News and Views

Congrats to postdoc Vinod Landge for his recently published N&V article in Nature Chem! The article summarizes an excellent report from the Gaunt Group at University of Cambridge where the addition of a simple amino amide-ligand dramatically shuts down a deleterious pathway, allowing the first example of a C-H arylation of aliphatic tertiary amines.

November 2019

All Together Now

The Young group welcomes incoming PhD students Kendra Shrestha (from Nepal) and Indunil Alakahoon (from Sri Lanka), as well as incoming Fulbright student Thandazile Mncwango (from South Africa).

November 2019

ACS WCC/Eli Lilly Travel Award

Congrats to graduate student Pratibha Chand-Thakuri on being awarded an ACS Women Chemists Committee Travel Award sponsered by Eli Lilly to present her work at the 2020 Spring ACS National Meeting and Exposition!

August 2019

Rh(III)-Catalyzed H/D Exchange on Carboxylic Acids

Congrats to Alyssa and Hanyang for their recent manuscript in Org. Lett.! The manuscript describes a protocol for the ortho-deuteration of aromatic carboxylic acids using only deuterium oxide as both solvent and deuterium source, and features low (~1 mol%) catalyst loadings.

April 2019

Carbon Dioxide-Mediated C-H Arylation of 1º and 2º Benzylamines

Congrats to Mohit and Pratibha for their recently accepted article in J. Am. Chem. Soc.! The manuscript describes a protocol for the ortho-arylation of benzylamines with aryl iodides using palladium acetate as a catalyst, with a crucial role for carbon dioxide that lowers the reaction temperature by 30 ºC compared with the native amine, and which allows greatly increased substrate scope.

February 2019

Review of Recent Catalytic Applications in Carboxylate-Based Metal Organic Frameworks

Congrats to Allison and Jared for their recently accepted book chapter in the ACS Symposium Series. The chapter is a review of recent applications of MOFs (built on carboxylate linkers and various metal vertices) towards catalysis, from CO2 activation to C-H activation, to photocatalysis.

February 2019

Self-Assembled Capsules Experiment for Undergraduate Lab

Congrats to Daniel and our collaborators Katherine Pappano, John Payton, and Richard Hooley for the recent acceptance of a new supramolecular lab procedure in the Journal of Chemical Education. The experiment provides a convenient platform for studying supramolecular chemistry at the undergraduate level, including a cool exploration of host:guest chemistry demonstrated by proton NMR. 

January 2019

Highlight of our Carbon Dioxide-Mediated C–H Activation Work

Congrats to Mohit, Pratibha, Justin, Daniel, and Hanyang for their recent publication published in Synlett. This manuscript highlights our recent work using carbon dioxide in C–H activation, and frames it within the context of other transient directing group approaches.

December 2018

Good-bye Dr. Kapoor!

It is with mixed emotions that we say good-bye to Dr. Mohit Kapoor. Mohit was a postdoc in our lab from April 2017 - December 2018, where he was integral to getting our carbon dioxide-mediated C–H activation work off of the ground, and contributed to the discovery of numerous disconnections. Dr. Kapoor is off to take a position at Chitkara University where he will lead his own research group. Congrats Prof. Mohit!

November 2018

One-Dimensional Networks Using Anthracene Dibenzoate Ligands and Zn(II)

Congrats to Ms. Allison Rabon and Project SEED student Ms. Kayla Goolsby for their recent paper in ActaCrystC! This work demonstrates what can happen when weak intermolecular forces out-compete perceived more thermodynamically-preferred dative bonds.

August 2018

Primer on Using Dry Ice in Reaction Vials

Congrats to Dr. Mohit Kapoor, Ms. Pratibha Chand-Thakuri, and Mr. Justin Maxwell for their paper published in JoVE! This work is a great demonstration of how easy it is to use dry ice to achieve moderate pressures of carbon dioxide in simple reaction vessels without the need for complicated equipment.

May 2018

Carbon Dioxide-Direct C–H Arylation of Aliphatic Amines

Congrats to Dr. Mohit Kapoor and Mr. Daniel Liu for their paper published in JACS!