Contact person: Karel Škoch
Transition metals hold a prominent position in synthetic chemistry as catalysts for a wide range of chemical transformations, finding common use in both laboratory and industrial processes. However, their utilization is accompanied by inherent problems such as their high cost, significant toxicity, and environmental burden during their acquisition and purification. Especially in recent times, strategic risks are increasing as they are often obtained from politically problematic countries. For these reasons, there is a need to search for new and alternative approaches that would replace transition metals or bring new possibilities for synthetic chemistry.
Within our group, we are focusing on boron compounds carrying a positive charge, known as borenium salts. Typical compounds of tri-coordinated boron are archetypal Lewis acids and, as such, find application as electrophilic reagents, catalysts, or even as components of molecular sensors. By formally introducing a positive charge, there is a significant increase in electrophilic character, allowing these compounds to activate less reactive compounds and thus enter reactions that would not normally occur. Our goal is to better understand these compounds and their reactivity, and subsequently explore their use as catalysts for new and unusual chemical reactions.
In the course of our research, we have shown that some of these salts also exhibit interesting photophysical properties after UV irradiation, thus representing a unique type of Lewis acidic luminophores. By studying the influence of structure on photophysical properties, we have been able to describe a new class of compounds capable of modulating the emission maximum (i.e., the color of emission) achieving high quantum yields of luminescence. Thus, our interest is also extended to the chemistry of photoactive functional materials.