Lindsay Hounjet

Lindsay conducted undergraduate research under the supervision of Jens Müller and Jörg Schachner at the University of Saskatchewan from which he graduated in 2006. His thesis research involved the synthesis and characterization of organometallic complexes of group 13 elements (Al, Ga, In) bridging two metallocene fragments. He joined the Cowie Group in 2006 to study the hemilability, reactivity, and coordinative diversity of late metal complexes bearing hybrid ligands. Specifically, his research involves the synthesis of novel ortho–phosphinoaniline ligands and their hemilabile complexes with rhodium and ruthenium. Lindsay’s favorite characterization techniques include X–ray crystallographic analysis for obtaining detailed information pertaining to molecular structure in the solid state and variable temperature multinuclear NMR spectroscopy for the quantification of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of fluxional (ligand exchange) processes in solution.

What you should know

Name:

Lindsay James Hounjet

e–mail:

lhounjet@ualberta.ca

Goes by:

The Hounje

Status:

PhD Candidate

Bachelor’s Degree:

BSc Honours Chemistry

University of Saskatchewan

Hails from:

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Often heard saying:

“...That’s what she said.”

Lab SounDtrack Tune O’ Choice:

“Holy Diver” – Ronnie James Dio

Cheers for:

Don’t care

Recent Publication:

– Hounjet, L.J.; Bierenstiel, M.; Ferguson, M.J.; McDonald, R.; Cowie, M. Dalton Trans., 2009, 4213–4226.
(hemilabile-Dalton09.pdf)

THe Rest of the Group

All About Me

3.22 Å

3.45 Å

4.22 Å

Figure 1 – Rh- - -Rh Distance

Figure 2

Figure 3

More recently, a dicationic binuclear complex of rhodium has been prepared which has been shown to act as a useful hydroformylation catalyst (Figure 2) and a bis(amidorhodium) species, a potentially useful hydrogenation catalyst, has also been generated by deprotonation of the 2° amine donors using an internal base (Figure 3).

Ruthenium complexes of ortho–phosphinoanilines exhibit a variety of coordination modes depending on the degree of methylation at the amine, the number of donors possessed by the ligands, or the oxidation state of the metal (Figures 4 and 5).

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Lindsay has synthesized mono– and diphosphines bearing one or more amine functionalities and has used them to prepare mono– and binuclear complexes of rhodium which exhibit variable degrees of hemilability as a consequence of steric demand of the amines. Within the series of binuclear rhodium complexes, it is possible to tune the intermetallic separation (an important feature for metal–metal cooperativity) by exploiting transannular steric or hydrogen–bonding interactions (Figure 1).

Using a novel ortho–phosphinoaniline, Lindsay has also discovered an example of a dimeric rhodium complex capable of double aliphatic carbon–chlorine bond activation (Figure 6) and further applications of hemilabile complexes to halocarbon manipulations are under current investigation.