Progress Toward the Synthesis of Manganese (II) Coordination Complexes with Tridentate Imine Ligands

Abstract

iii, 18 p.Replacing fossil fuel energy sources is desirable because of the harmful carbon emissions to Earth’s atmosphere. Currently, some clean energy options, like dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), are used to harness energy from the sun. These DSSCs use expensive and unabundant metals such as Ir, Os, Re, and Ru, making them unsustainable. Our group is using manganese to solve this issue due to its low cost, high abundance, many oxidation states, and low toxicity. The goal of this project is to synthesize [Mn(Ph-IAPP)2]2+ (Ph-IAPP is [(E)-{4-phenyl-6-[(phenylimino)methyl]-2-pyridyl}methyleneamino]benzene). The synthetic route for Ph-IAPP consists of five steps; this project focuses on the optimization of the first three steps, starting from dimethyl-4-chloropyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate. Plans to coordinate Ph-IAPP to Mn(II) are also discussed