Chemistry Seminar - Solvent-Free High-Speed Ball Milling
Solvent-Free High-Speed Ball Milling: The Mechanochemical Carbene Transfer ReactionsMahima DongaChemistry MS CandidateSchool of Chemistry and Materials Science, RITAdvisor: Dr. Michael ColemanAbstract:Many industries use large quantities of flammable, volatile solvents for chemical manufacturing and services. Quite often, many of these solvents are classified as toxic and are released into the environment by passive routes or improper disposal. Or alternatively, they are collected, shipped, and incinerated as hazardous waste after the desired product is manufactured. One way to reduce the usage of toxic solvents in the environment is to incorporate the concept of green chemistry when developing and executing a chemical process. Mechanochemistry is an ancient method for the synthesis of chemicals by using force/pressure. Recently, mechanochemical approaches have been derived from Green chemistry which are very efficient and sustainable solutions. High speed Ball-milling is a powerful mechanochemical technique for the solvent-free synthesis of complex compounds. Our research project aims to measure the efficiency and selectivity of mechanochemical organic synthetic transformations. Carbene transfer reactions are an interesting class of reactions to explore due to the possibility for interesting and unexpected product(s). Also, traditional carbene transfer reactions are conducted in high volumes of solvent over a slow addition time (typically > 12 hrs). This extra technical step is due to the propensity of these highly reactive carbene intermediates to undergo a dimerization reaction when they collide with each other. Carbene dimerization is a type of organic reaction in which two carbene or carbenoid precursors react with each other to form a dimer. This reaction is often considered an unwanted side-reaction. Our hypothesis is that the solvent-free high-speed ball milling will reduce, or eliminate, the by-product dimerization pathways by imparting enough kinetic force necessary to generate the carbenes over an infinitesimally short period of time. It is suspected that very little or no amount of solvent will be necessary for carbene transfer reactions. Perhaps, solvent-free high-speed ball milling will yield reaction conditions that are highly efficient (% yield) and selective (% optical activity, % isomers).Speaker Bio:Mahima received her BS in Chemistry from University of Mumbai (India). She came to RIT in Fall 2019 to pursue her master’s in Chemistry. Her research interests are synthesis of organic compounds and green chemistry. In her free time, Mahima likes to paint, sketch or play badminton.
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