Russell P. Hughes

Russ Hughes received his B.Sc. degree in 1967 from UMIST in England. After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in Organometallic Chemistry in 1972 from the University of Toronto, he carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Bristol (England) and McGill University (Montreal), before joining the Dartmouth faculty in 1976. He continues his research interests in synthetic and mechanistic Organometallic Chemistry of the transition metals, with special emphasis on fluorinated ligands. He has been a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundations, and was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of Manchester in 1990. He has chaired the Organometallic Subdivision of the American Chemical Society and the Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry, and is a member of the Inorganic, Organic, and Fluorine Divisions of the American Chemical Society.

Position: Frank R. Mori Professor of Chemistry
Research Group Web Site
E-Mail: Russell P. Hughes

Research Interests

Transition metal organometallic complexes are important synthetic and catalytic reagents in many chemical transformations of organic molecules. Professor Hughes's interests lie in the areas of synthetic and mechanistic organometallic chemistry. Synthesis and study of model complexes related to catalytically important systems are always prime objectives.

Particular interest is focused on the mechanisms and stereochemistries of metal promoted reactions involving the activation of aliphatic carbon-fluorine bonds. New research directions include developing synthetic approaches to conversion of CF to CH bonds, and new routes to environmentally friendly hydrofluorocarbons as substitutes for chlorofluorocarbons. The effect of perfluorinated organic ligands on the chemistry of organometallic complexes is also of considerable ongoing interest.

Extensive use is made of inert atmosphere techniques for synthesis; compound characterization relies heavily on high field multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, together with IR and mass spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography, in collaboration with Arnie Rheingold at the University of California at San Diego.

Selected Publications

• Jian Yuan, Russell P. Hughes and Arnold L. Rheingold, A Monomeric Perfluoroalkyl Iridium(III) Amido Complex with an Ir═N Double Bond and Its Reactions To Activate sp³ Carbon−Hydrogen Bonds at Room Temperature Organometallics, 2009¸ 28, 4646-4648.
• Lyudmila Leontyeva, Russell P. Hughes, and Arnold L. Rheingold, “An Unusual Migratory Insertion of CO into a Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl-Platinum Bond,” Organometallics, 2007, 26, 5735-5736.
• Jian Yuan, Russell P. Hughes, and Arnold L. Rheingold, The First Example of a Bis(trifluoromethyl)carbene Transition Metal Complex, and its Reduction to a Perfluoroallene Complex. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem., 2007, 4723-4725.
• Cheryl J. Bourgeois, Hui Huang, Roman B. Larichev, Lev N. Zakharov, Arnold L. Rheingold, and Russell P. Hughes, “Variable Temperature NMR Determination of the Barriers to Rotation About the Ir-C s-Bond in a Series of Primary Perfluoroalkyl Iridium Complexes [IrCp*{(CF₂)_nCF₃}(PMe₃)₂]⁺ X^-  [n = 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11][X = I, OT_f]},” Organometallics, 2007, 26, 264-271.
• Hui Huang, Russell P. Hughes, Clark R. Landis, and Arnold L. Rheingold, The Simplest Binary Fluorocarbon as a Ligand.  Synthetic, Spectroscopic, Crystallographic, and Computational Studies of a Molybdenum Complex of Terminally Ligated Carbon Monofluoride (Fluoromethylidyne), J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 7454-7455.
• Cheryl J. Bourgeois, Russell P. Hughes, Jian Yuan, Antonio G. DiPasquale, and Arnold L. Rheingold, a- and b-Fluorine Elimination Reactions Induced by Reduction of Iridium-Fluoroalkyl Complexes.  Selective Formation of Fluoroalkylidene and Hydrofluoroalkene Ligands, Organometallics 2006, 25, 2908-2910.
• Russell P. Hughes, Roman B. Larichev, Lev. N. Zakharov, and Arnold L. Rheingold, “Carbon-Fluorine Bond Activation Coupled with Alkynyl Migration to give Fluorinated Allenyl Complexes of Iridium,” Organometallics, 2006, 25, 3943-3947.
• Hui Huang, Russell P. Hughes, Clark R. Landis, and Arnold L. Rheingold, "The Simplest Binary Fluorocarbon as a Ligand.  Synthetic, Spectroscopic, Crystallographic, and Computational Studies of a Molybdenum Complex of Terminally Ligated Carbon Monofluoride (Fluoromethylidyne)," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 7454-7455.
• Russell P. Hughes, Roman B. Larichev, Lev. N. Zakharov, and Arnold L. Rheingold, "Carbon-Fluorine Bond Activation Coupled with Alkynyl Migration to give Fluorinated Allenyl Complexes of Iridium."   Organometallics, 2006, 25, 3943-3947.
• Russell P. Hughes, Roman B. Laritchev, Jian Yuan, James A. Golen, Adam N. Rucker and Arnold L. Rheingold, A Simple Route to Difluorocarbene and Perfluoroalkylidene Complexes of Iridium, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 15020-15021.