Selected Publications
- σ-Alane Complexes of Chromium, Tungsten and Manganese. I.M. Riddlestone, S. Edmonds, P. Kaufman, J. Urbano, J.I. Bates, M.J. Kelly, A.L. Thompson, R. Taylor and S. Aldridge, J. Am Chem. Soc., 2012, 134, 2551. DOI: 10.1021/ja21198921
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- Coordination and Activation of Al-H and Ga-H Bonds. J.A.B. Abdalla, I.M. Riddlestone, J.Turner, P.A. Kaufman, R. Tirfoin, N. Phillips and S. Aldridge, Chem. Eur. J., 2014, 20, 17624. DOI: 10.1002/chem.201405018
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- Mechanistic Study of Ru-NHC-Catalyzed Hydrodefluorination of Fluoropyridines: The Influence of the NHC on the Regioselectivity of C–F Activation and Chemoselectivity of C–F versus C–H Bond Cleavage. D. McKay, I.M. Riddlestone, S.A. Macgregor, M.F. Mahon and M.K. Whittlesey, ACS Catal., 2015, 5, 776. DOI: 10.1021/cs501644r
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- Cooperative bond activation and catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide at a Group 13 metal center. J.A.B. Abdalla, I.M. Riddlestone, R. Tirfoin and S. Aldridge, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 5098. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201500570
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- Isolation of [Ru(IPr)2COH]+ (IPr = 1,3-Bis(2,6-diidopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene) and Reactivity Toward E-H (E = H, B) Bonds. I.M. Riddlestone, D. McKay, M.J. Gutmann, S.A. Macgregor, M.F. Mahon, H.A. Sparkes and M.K. Whittlesey, Organomet., 2016, 35, 1301. DOI:10.1021/acs.organomet.6b00173
FRIAS Project
Preparation of Stabilised and Free Silylium and Silicocenium Ions Featuring Known and Novel Weakly Coordinating Anions; Reagents for the Coordination and Activation of Small Molecules.
Weakly coordinating anions (WCAs) have applications as electrolytes, components in ionic liquids, lithium ion batteries and in catalysis. They also facilitate the formation of reactive cations and weakly bound complexes in the condensed phase. Although a number of WCAs are prevalent in the literature, a number of common underlying deficiencies affect their usage. Such deficiencies include: (i) stability to highly Lewis acidic species, (ii) weak coordinative strength, (iii) ease of preparation and (iv) high tendency towards crystallographic disorder. This project seeks to build and improve upon the perfluoro-tert-butoxy aluminate class of WCAs and apply these anions in the synthesis of highly reactive silylium and silicocenium cations.