Dr. François Gabbaï, Distinguished Professor and Arthur E. Martell Chair in Texas A&M Chemistry, captured two rare stages of chemical bond formation—findings published in Science.
His team studied a molecular system involving a carbon–oxygen–phosphorus linkage where two forms—a weakly bound outer complex and a more stable inner complex—exist in equilibrium. Both were successfully crystallized and structurally analyzed, which is uncommon in physical organic chemistry.
The study shows how careful molecular design can stabilize normally short-lived intermediates, allowing researchers to examine the early steps of chemical bonding. These insights may support the design of future catalysts and reactive intermediates, especially in fields like photoredox catalysis where fine control of electronic structure is important.
All calculations were conducted with the advanced computing resources provided by Texas A&M High Performance Research Computing.
The work provides new structural details that could help guide the development of advanced chemical systems.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Science Foundation (CHE-2154972), the Welch Foundation (A-1423) and Texas A&M through the Arthur E. Martell Chair of Chemistry.