Hidden Catalysis with Strong Lewis Acids – HICAT

Organic synthesis greatly relies on strong Lewis acid-catalyzed processes and the use of such compounds raises questions about the nature of the active species. Strong Lewis acids have indeed the potential to mediate the formation of protons in various ways in the reaction medium (hidden proton catalysis) or decompose into Lewis acids that can outcompete the initial Lewis acid as the true catalyst (hidden Lewis acid catalysis). Besides, metals and protons can actually cooperate during the catalytic event. This 42-month project is a quest for the real active species in catalytic processes involving strong Lewis acids. We want to track these true catalysts using a thorough in situ monitoring of reaction processes, notably by spectroscopic techniques. It is also planned to use a special triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry instrument allowing consecutive Collision-Activated Reaction or Collision-Induced Dissociation sequences to fish relevant ions and interpret stoichiometric and catalytic reactions. Ion mobility experiments are also planned. DFT computations will help to rationalize the findings.