1 Introduction

The synthesis and reactivity of hydrocarbon-derived metallacycles have been investigated extensively¹ and they have been identified as key intermediates in a number of catalyzed transformations of unsaturated organic substrates. Well documented examples include selective ethylene oligomerization to 1-hexene,² alkene metathesis,³ cyclooligomerization⁴ and ethylene dehydrodimerization to butadiene.⁵ Although metallacycles derived from fluorinated substrates have been known since 1961,⁶ significant advances in the synthesis, reactivity and catalytic applications of first row transition metal analogues have been reported over the last two decades and constitute the topic of this review. Our coverage will be limited to metallacycles with two metal-carbon bonds in which at least one of the carbons is directly bonded to one or more fluorines.

2 Three-membered Fluorometallacycles

The coordination of fluoroalkenes is most common with late metals⁷ and involves significant back-bonding from the metal, prompting early researchers to regard these complexes as metallacyclopropanes, involving a 2e- oxidation of the metal center.⁸ In the molecular structure of Ni(C₂F₄)(tripod), for example, the CF₂ groups are bent away from the metal by 42°.⁹ In their discussion of the weak π-bond in C₂F₄ vs. C₂H₄, Borden et al. also pointed out the energetic preference of fluorinated carbon radicals for a pyramidal geometry.¹⁰ A more recent computational study of CuF(C₂H_nF_4-n) quantified this favorable deformation energy and showed that differences in Cu−C bond lengths were only observed for the unsymmetrical fluoroalkenes [cf., C₂H₄ 1.934, C₂F₄ 1.932, C₂F₃H 1.939 (−CHF), 1.924 (−CF₂) and two C₂F₂H₂ isomers 1.946 (−CH₂), 1.934, 1.936 (−CHF), 1.917 Å (−CF₂)].¹¹ A fragment orbital analysis by Hughes showed that this distortion in L₂Ni(C₂F₄) lowers the alkene LUMO energy by almost 100 kJ/mol (Figure 1) and allows for an additional back-bonding interaction between filled Ni π and alkene π* perpendicular to the C−C bond, in contrast to the results for ethylene.¹² A detailed metrics comparison is enabled from the molecular structure determination of CpRh(C₂H₄)(C₂F₄) (Figure 2).¹³

The synthesis of first row fluorometallacyclopropanes is typically accomplished by reaction of an electron-rich metal complex with a fluoroalkene. The extensive back-bonding ensures that coordination of a second fluoroalkene is usually more difficult, as reported for Ni atoms by Ozin and Power.¹⁴ In fact, reactions of Fe and Co carbonyl complexes with excess tetrafluoroethene (TFE) afforded instead perfluorometallacyclopentanes, as discussed in Section 3.^{6, 15} Besides a smattering of Co¹⁶ examples, the majority of structurally characterized first row fluorometallacyclopropanes are Ni-based and derived from a variety of fluoroalkenes and ancillary ligands (Table 1.)^{9, 17-24} Although these complexes are typically derived from Ni(0) precursors, Pörschke and co-workers obtained Ni(C₂F₄)(tmeda) (and ethane) from NiMe₂(tmeda) and TFE in 65 % yield.¹⁷

For all Ni−TFE complexes, the Ni−C_F2 bonds range from 1.85–1.91 Å with P-donors, with the harder tmeda donor giving shorter Ni−C distances (1.82–1.86 Å). In all these adducts, the fluorine atoms clearly bend away from the metal, and the C−C distances in the best quality structures (1.40–1.43 Å) are significatively longer than that of free CF₂=CF₂ (1.323 Å).²⁵ This indicates a strong back-donation from the metal to the alkene, as expected, consistent with Ni(II) metallacyclopropane character, although the C−C bonds are not as long as those in hexafluorocyclopropane (1.505 Å). While disorder in the structure of the Ni CF₂=CHF complex does not allow us to observe the influence of F replacement by H, CF₂=CH₂ complexes indicate a Ni−C_F2 bond significatively shorter than the Ni−C_H2 bond by almost 0.1 Å, as a result of the stronger Ni−C_F2 interaction. Substitution of one F of TFE by larger groups (R=Cl, OCF₃, 2-naphthyl) leads to a slight lengthening of the Ni−C_RF bond, but the Ni−C_F2 bond remains within the range observed for unsubstituted TFE adducts. As in the above Rh example (Figure 2), comparison of the molecular structures of NiL(PCy₃)₂ in which L=TFE¹⁸ and ethene²⁶ shows the former to have shorter Ni−C and longer C−C bonds (Figure S1). The same trend is observed for CpCoLL’ complexes even though the TFE example includes a PPh₃ ancillary L’ ligand¹⁶ whereas that with ethylene incudes a stronger donor N-heterocyclic carbene²⁷ (Figure S2).

2.1 Alternate Synthetic Routes

Building on the Prakash report of facile difluorocarbene generation from Me₃SiCF₃ and NaI,²⁸ Baker et al. demonstrated that addition of two CF₂ carbenes to a monovalent Co precursor afforded a series of fluorocobaltacyclopropanes (3 a–c, Scheme 1).¹⁶ Several Co²⁹ and Ni³⁰ fluorometallacyclopropanes were also derived from ring contraction of 4-membered ring analogues as detailed in Section 4.

2.2 C−F Bond Activation

Although C−Cl oxidative addition reactions of CF₂=CFCl and its metal-bound intermediates were already well known,⁷ the first example of fluoroalkene C−F bond activation in a first row fluorometallacyclopropane was reported by Ogoshi in 2012 (Scheme 2, right).^{18, 31} Conducting the thermolysis in the presence of excess TFE afforded the phosphorane, suggesting that phosphine dissociation may occur under these conditions. Indeed, no C−F bond activation was observed under the same conditions using the chelating bis(phosphine) analog, Ni(C₂F₄)(dcpe) [dcpe=1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane]. They also showed the reaction to proceed at room temperature using stoichiometric Lewis acids such as LiI or BF₃, yielding fluorovinyl products 4 b,c (Scheme 2, left). A subsequent study by Li and co-workers showed that Lewis acids effected the selective C₂−F activation of Ni-bound hexafluoropropene (HFP) giving alkenyl complexes 5 a,b (Scheme 3, top).²³ A similar result was obtained using a strong Brønsted acid (presumably affording HF), whereas weaker acetic acid protonated the Ni−C₂ bond yielding Ni fluoroalkyl 6 (Scheme 3, bottom). In transmetallation reactions of 5 a, a double C−F bond activation was proposed to involve con-secutive substitution and elimination reactions, reflecting the enhanced fluoroalkene C−F bond reactivity upon coordination to the electron-rich Ni center (Scheme 4).

3 Five-membered Fluorometallacycles

Although Stone and co-workers reported that low-valent metal complexes react with TFE to afford 5-membered fluorometallacycles with Fe⁶ and Co¹⁵ in the early 1960’s, the synthesis and chemistry of these complexes has focused largely on Ni, as shown by the structurally characterized examples (Table 2).^32-49 Work by the Stone⁵⁰ and Ogoshi¹⁸ groups showed that conversion of the initially formed nickelacyclopropane to its five-membered analogue was largely dependent on steric factors (Scheme 5). Most Ni^II[−(CF₂)₄−] complexes adopt a 4-coordinate square planar geometry, in which the perfluoroalkyl ring binds with nearly perfect bite angles ranging from 84 to 89°. The Ni−C bonds range from 1.87 to 1.98 Å, depending on the distortion around the metal and the nature of the trans-ligand. As a result, the T-shaped tricoordinate Ni[−(CF₂)₄−](SIPr) has a strong discrepancy between the bond trans to the NHC carbon [1.934(2) Å] and the one with no trans ligand [1.875(2) Å].⁴⁰ A similar difference is seen with the [Ni(CF₃)[−(CF₂)₄−](NCMe)]⁻ anion, confirming the large trans effect of the CF₃ ligand.³⁹ The fluorinated ring also stabilizes high oxidation states with examples of Ni(III) and Ni(IV) reported by Vicic,⁴¹ Sanford,⁴⁵ Ogoshi,⁴⁸ and the Baker group (Figure S6).^{46, 47} In these octahedral complexes, however, the Ni−C bonds are slightly longer with values ranging from 1.96 to 2.01 Å. This lengthening is also observed in cationic or neutral octahedral Co(III) complexes, although the trans influence impacts inequivalent Co−C_F2 bonds.^{34, 35} A comparison of M−C bond lengths in [M](C₄F₈) and [M](C₄H₈) complexes is shown in Figures S3–5 for M=Fe, Co and Ni.

Several substituted fluoronickelacyclopentanes have been prepared by nucleophilic substitution at Cα (with PR₃, pyridine or OAc⁻): in those cases (not included in Table 2), the size of the nucleophile induces a slightly longer M−C_F(Nuc) bond (vs. M−C_F2) by 0.04 Å on average. Other α-substituted rings have been prepared by tail-tail oxidative cyclization of functionalized fluoroalkenes CTFE and PMVE,²² where substitution only increases Ni−C_FX (X=Cl, OCF₃) by 0.01 Å. Mixed metallacycles from the insertion of non-fluorinated alkenes into TFE-nickelacyclopropanes have also been prepared (Section 3.2). The shorter Ni−C_F2 distance (Figure 3) reflects multiple bonding interactions⁵¹ not present in Ni−C_H2 and the longer Ni−P distance trans to −CF₂ confirms its larger trans effect vs −CH₂. With styrene, the regioselectivity of the insertion (Ph on Cα) imposes a strong elongation of the Ni−C_HPh bond (vs. Ni−C_F2) of more than 0.08 Å.⁴⁹

The stability of 5-membered fluoronickelacycles is particularly notable. Although they cannot be prepared directly from ethylene, phosphine Ni(C₄H₈) metallacycles, generated at low temperatures, have been shown to decompose upon warming to 9 °C via β-H elimination or reductive elimination depending on the number of coordinated phosphine ligands.⁵² In contrast, many phosphine fluoronickelacyclopentanes can be heated at 100 °C overnight without change.

The lability of the PPh₃, PⁿBu₃ and P(OⁱPr)₃ ligands have proven useful to access 5-membered analogues with alternate donors such as N, C and S. For example, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands undergo reactions with fluoroalkenes to afford NHC fluoroalkenes⁵³ and Pörschke and co-workers reported that perfluoronickelacyclopropanes derived from tmeda or diimine ligands did not react readily with a second equivalent of TFE.^{17, 54} The latter observation led Hughes, Baker et al. to pursue a mechanistic investigation of this 3- to 5-membered ring expansion that revealed several points of interest.¹⁹ First, kinetic barriers for adding the second TFE were lower for 16e- P₂Ni(C₂F₄) than 14e- PNi(C₂F₄) (P=PMe₃, PPh₃). Second, the P−Ni−P angle widens to ca. 150 °C during the C−C bond-forming step in the perpendicular plane, initially affording a trigonal bipyramidal metallacycle 7 with one empty coordination site (seesaw geometry, Scheme 6).

Subsequent reaction with another ligand or donor solvent then provides a low-energy barrier to the stable square planar nickelayclopentane 8 (ca. 40 kcal/mol more stable than starting materials).

With trifluoroethene (TrFE), it was shown that the steric bulk of ancillary phosphorus ligands has an impact on the regio- and stereoselectivity of five-membered ring formation (Table 3).²⁰ DFT studies showed that the head-head isomer is most thermodynamically stable, confirming that the regioselectivity is under kinetic control. Indeed, Stone reported that reaction of Ni(AsMe₂Ph)₄ with TrFE afforded the head-head isomer exclusively.⁵⁵ In contrast, calculations for the reaction of Ni(I^tBu) with vinylidene difluoride (VDF, CH₂=CF₂) shows head-head and head-tail regioisomers of similar energy whereas the cyclization transition state is much lower for the observed head-tail isomer (Scheme 7).²¹

Table 3. P ligand effects on formation of hexafluoronickelacyclopentanes.

With bulkier fluoroalkene perfluoro(methyl vinyl ether) [PMVE, CF₂=CF(OCF₃)], reaction with Ni(cod)[P(OⁱPr)₃]₂ is regioselective for the tail-tail isomer 9 a,b with a trans:cis ratio of 3 : 1 (Scheme 8, top).²² A similar result (10) was obtained for chlorotrifluoroethene (CTFE, CF₂=CFCl) although the reaction was accompanied by the C−Cl oxidative addition product 5d (Scheme 8, bottom).

3.1 Alternate Synthetic Routes

Von Werner and co-workers showed that several bis(phosphine) Ni(C₄F₈) complexes could be obtained from the Ni(II) dihalide precursors and NaH under a TFE atmosphere, albeit in moderate yields (20–35 %).⁵⁶ Noting the hazards of working with TFE, the Vicic group developed a simple route to L₂Zn[(CF₂)₄]₂ZnL₂ (11; from ZnEt₂ and I(CF₂)₄I)⁵⁷ that they used to make both d⁸ Ni and d⁶ Co perfluorometallacycles (12,13; Scheme 9).^{43, 34}

3.2 Mixed Metallacycles

In their studies with N-ligated Ni precursors, Pörschke et al. showed that addition of ethene or ethyne⁵⁸ to the TFE complexes afforded the mixed 5-membered metallacycles (14,15) exclusively (Scheme 10).^{17, 54} In contrast, Ogoshi showed that formation of the PPh₃ analogue required initial addition of ethene to avoid the Ni−C₄F₈ metallacycle (Scheme 11).⁴⁸ These authors also noted the high nucleophilicity of Cα (NBO analysis) in these mixed metallacycles which enabled their unique ring expansion chemistry and participation in Ni-catalyzed cyclizations (Section 3.4).

3.3 C−F bond Activation

Although the formation of perfluorocyclobutene by thermolysis of Fe(C₄F₈)(CO)₃ is presumed to involve C_β−F bond activation, the first discrete example was due to Burch et al. (Scheme 12) using stoichiometric BF₃.³⁶ Generation of the C_α carbenium ion (or Ni fluorocarbene resonance form) is followed by phosphine migration to give the phosphonium zwitterions (16,17). Similar reactivity was reported by Baker and co-workers with a P,S ligand; hydrolysis of 18 then afforded hexafluorobutene via C_β−F activation (Scheme 13).³⁷ A similar reaction with the head-head isomer of TrFE-derived nickelacycle affords a bis(phosphonium) difluorobutadiene via subsequent β-F elimination (Scheme 14).²⁰

In contrast, treatment of the three-coordinate nickela-cyclopentane with TMSOTf led to ring contraction, affording the perfluorocyclobutyl complex that subsequently undergoes β-F elimination to the cyclobutene (Scheme 15).⁴⁰ With the head-tail isomer of TrFE-derived nickelacycle, the observed reaction product depends on the Lewis acid.²⁰ With BF₃, ring contraction and β-F elimination yields tetrafluorocyclobutene while TMSOTf gives the aliphatic diene (Scheme 16). The latter was proposed to result from an F-shift enabled by stabilization of the Cα carbenium ion by the triflate counterion (Scheme 17).

The tendency of H-containing fluoronickelacycles to undergo β-F elimination could be exploited to develop a catalytic C2→C4 fluoroalkene conversion.²¹ Reaction of NiL(cod) with VDF leads directly to the fluoro-bridged Ni butenyl dimer derived from the head-tail nickelacycle (Scheme 18). Transformation of Ni−F to Ni−H using a silane is followed by reductive elimination to close the hydrodefluorodimerization catalytic cycle (Scheme 19). A similar reaction employing a mixed metallacyle afforded fluorodienes from β,β-difluorostyrenes and alkynes (Scheme 20).⁵⁹

In the more Lewis acidic d⁶ triphos fluoroferracycle, loss of CO leads to Cα-F migration, yielding ferracyclocarbene 21, whereas the terpy’ analogue resisted CO loss, requiring a stoichiometric Lewis acid to give related product 22 (Scheme 21).³³

3.4 Ring Expansion Reactions

The Ogoshi group took advantage of the high C_α nucleophilicity in tetrafluoronickelacyclopentanes, developing a number of ring expansions into catalytic cyclizations.²⁴ Reaction of the PPh₃ analogue with excess ethylene gave tetrafluorohexene, presumably via the nickelacycloheptane, followed by β-H and reductive elimination (Scheme 22).⁴⁸ Utilization of the PCy₃ ligand enabled a catalytic reaction with 13 turnovers. An analogous three-component coupling with TFE, ethene and benzaldehyde gave tetrafluoroketones, albeit at elevated temperature (Scheme 23).⁶⁰ In a remarkable demonstration of selectivity, they extended this strategy to four-component coupling of TFE, alkyne, styrene and ethene (Scheme 24).⁶¹ Substituting the styrene for an aldehyde confirmed that initial alkyne insertion is preferred (Scheme 25).⁶²

4 Four-membered Fluorometallacycles

Considering the importance of 4-membered metallacycles in alkene and alkyne metathesis, the synthesis and reactivity of fluorometallacyclobutanes is particularly underdeveloped (Table 4). The first example (23) was obtained by thermal decarbonylation of an iron diacyl complex (Scheme 26, top).⁶³

Although the Vicic group did not report the synthesis of 4-membered metallacycles using their dizinc reagent,⁵⁷ they were able to access a platinum derivative (25) from the perfluoropropyl diiodide (Scheme 26, bottom).⁶⁴ More closely mimicking the metathesis pathway, Baker et al. prepared several electron-rich d⁸ carbene complexes, CpLCo=CFR^F (R^F=F, CF₃), that undergo addition to tetrafluoroethene to yield cobaltacyclobutanes (27 a,b; Scheme 27).²⁹ After noting that the slow reaction rate was not affected by excess phosphine, they teamed up with Hughes and Ess to show, using DFT methods, that the 18e- cobalt carbene undergoes electron transfer to TFE, yielding the singlet 1,4-diradical intermediate 26.⁶⁵ Moreover, this reaction was especially exothermic with TFE (−25.3 kcal/mol vs −12.3 for VDF and −7.1 for ethylene). A similar pathway was reported soon after in the reaction of a divalent porphyrin-Co=CF₂ complex with n-Bu-acrylate.⁶⁶

Employing a more electron-rich d¹⁰ Ni perfluorocarbene, [P(OⁱPr)₃]₃Ni=CFR^F, with labile phosphite ligands gave much faster reactions with TFE to form, in the case of R=CF₃, both nickelacyclobutane and metathesis products (Scheme 28).^30b A computational investigation by Jia and Hall showed that 16e- P₂Ni=CF(CF₃) is the preferred intermediate for both diradical and metathesis pathways, with the C−C bond formation in the latter occurring perpendicular to the P−Ni−P plane.

The ratio of metathesis to metallacycle products is dependent on the nature of both the fluoroalkene and the ancillary ligands. With TFE, for example, the 1 : 9 ratio with P(OⁱPr)₃ increases to 1 : 1.4 with P(OMe)₃, presumably a result of more favorable steric factors for alkene coordination with the latter. This ratio also increased with decreasing number of fluorine atoms (cf. from 1 : 9 with TFE to 1 : 5 with VDF and 1 : 3 with CHF=CF₂), likely a result of increasing kinetic barriers for the diradical pathway. Surprisingly, reactions of 28 b with vinylarenes and ethylene afforded only metallacycles, in spite of the lower energy metathesis transition states.^30d A comparison of 4-methoxy-styrene with the pentafluorophenyl derivative confirmed that coordination of the former to Ni is not followed by cycloreversion, allowing for an additional phosphite dissociation pathway to access the square planar metallacycle product (Scheme 29). Although reaction of 28 b with cyclopentene initially afforded the strained nickelacyclobutane (31), it underwent ring contraction via a 1,2-H shift giving 32 (Scheme 30).

Regioselective reaction of cobalt fluorocarbenes with terminal alkynes afforded fluorometallacyclobutenes (33 a,b) with computational studies again favouring the diradical pathway (Scheme 31, top).⁶⁷ With the more electron-rich P₃Ni=CF₂ complex, the resulting metallacycle (34) undergoes ring contraction to nickelacyclopropene 35 via an H-shift (Scheme 31, bottom).^30c

4.1 C−F Bond Activation

The C−F activation chemistry observed for fluorometalla-cyclobutanes differs considerably from its 5-membered analogues. Treatment of 27 a,b with stoichiometric TMSOTf afforded alkenyl complexes (37 a,b; Scheme 32).²⁹ While the latter could arise by selective C_β−F abstraction and selective Co−C_α bond cleavage, the former is accompanied by a formal 1,3-F shift. In contrast, reactions of 27 a,b with catalytic bistriflimidic acid gave the ring contraction products 38 a,b. The selectivity for C_β−F abstraction in 27 a,b was attributed to formation of the Co perfluoroallyl intermediate Int⁺ (Scheme 33).

4.2 Ring Expansion Reactions

The only example of fluorometallacyclobutane ring expansion is derived from ethylene insertion into nickelacycle 39 to give nickelacyclohexane intermediate 40 (Scheme 34).^30d Subsequent β-F and reductive elimination afford the tetrafluorohexene product.

5 Other Fluorometallacycles

Early examples of fluorometallacycles were derived from reactions of TFE with allyl cobalt complexes (Scheme 35, top),⁶⁹ a rare example of fluoroalkene insertion into an M−C_sp3 bond,⁷⁰ and Hughes’ work with the octafluorocyclooctatetraene ligand which affords a different isomer than the η⁴-diene hydrocarbon analogue (Scheme 35, bottom).⁷¹ Wilkinson's product from perfluorocycohexadiene and iron carbonyl is best described as a bent σ²-bonded η⁴-metallacyclopent-3-ene, halfway between a classical η⁴-diene complex and a metallacyclopentene (Scheme 36);⁷² its thermolysis to perfluorobenzene was an early example of C−F bond activation. Following up on earlier work with fluoroplatinacyclobutanes,⁶⁴ Vicic prepared the first isolable example of a perfluorometallacycloheptane (43; Scheme 37).⁷³ Employing a monoligated Ni precursor, Ogoshi et al. prepared and characterized an octafluoro analogue. (44; Scheme 38).⁶⁰

6 Takeaways and Future Prospects

With the discovery that hydrofluorolefins (HFOs) can serve as refrigerants, foam-blowing agents and solvents with a lower global warming potential than many previously employed fluorocarbons,⁷⁴ the availability of fluoroalkenes for chemical researchers is increasing.⁷⁵ Although TFE presents a deflagration hazard,⁷⁶ thermolysis of fluorinated carboxylate salts in vacuo readily provides a safe 1 : 1 mixture with CO₂⁷⁷ (Scheme 39). In another approach, Hu et al. identified conditions under which TFE could be generated in situ from Me₃SiCF₃.⁷⁸ Moreover, convenient new protocols for selective fluoroalkene hydrodefluorination catalysis⁷⁹ allow for access to a much wider variety of alkene starting materials for the synthesis of fluorometallacycles.

Although fluorometallacycles are generally more stable than their hydrocarbon counterparts, the results summarized here show that the combination of first row metals with selected substitution of C−H for C−F bonds allows for a variety of potentially useful transformations, including C−C bond formation. Nonetheless, most reactivity studies and catalytic reactions to date have been limited to nickel. While the stability of d⁰ Ti−CF₃ complexes⁸⁰ is plagued by strong Ti−F bond formation, reactions of electron-rich d^2–6 metals with fluoroalkenes may afford reactive 3- and 5-membered metallacyles⁸¹ or be fine-tuned for in situ generation of selected radicals or carbenes.

Synthesis and reactivity of mixed 5-membered fluorometallacycles benefit from their regioselective (and in some cases stereoselective) formation and proclivity to undergo β-F and β-H elimination, ring contraction and expansion, and both H- and F-shifts (a gift and a curse!). Control of these reaction pathways will depend on advancing our knowledge of metal-fluoroalkene bond energies and kinetic barriers for 3- to 5-membered ring expansion (and beyond).

Further manipulation of metal fluorocarbenes to form less stable fluorometallacyclobutanes could also open up the field of tailored fluoropolymers without reliance on electron-rich co-monomers.⁸²

Finally, as the chemical enterprise moves toward global sustainability, will there be a continuing role for fluorochemicals? One only needs to consider their uses in modern drugs, agrochemicals and advanced materials to see their current impact. Notably, fluorochemicals are also instrumental to semiconductor manufacturing and processing; viable replacements have yet to be found. Going forward, it will be up to creative chemists and engineers to effectively minimize the environmental and ecological impact of fluorochemicals⁸³ through the development and implementation of less persistent materials and new manufacturing processes.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Biographical Information

R. Tom Baker obtained his BSc from UBC and PhD from UCLA with Fred Hawthorne on metallacarboranes. After 15 years at DuPont CR&D developing applications of homogeneous catalysis to fluorochemicals, TiO₂ and nylon intermediates, he joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he led catalysis projects in multiphasic alkane functionalization and chemical hydrogen production. In 2008 Baker joined the Chemistry Department at uOttawa as Tier 1 CRC in Catalysis Science for Energy Applications and Director of the Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation.

Biographical Information

Loïc Mangin obtained his scientific baccalaureate in Épinal, France before his BSc and PhD work at Université de Montréal with Davit Zargarian on organonickel chemistry with cyclometallated phosphinites. After a postdoctoral stint with Frank Schaper at U de M, he joined the Baker group in 2022 working on both metal SNS complexes and metal organofluorine chemistry.