# CAREER: Elucidating Electronic Structure-Reactivity Principles in Base-Metal Catalysis

> **NSF 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Colorado State University (CO) · $737,138

## Abstract

In this CAREER project, Professor Yuyang Dong of the Department of Chemistry at Colorado State University is developing a series of square-planar base-metal complexes to understand how their electronic structures control catalytic performance. The goal of this research is to use these structure-reactivity relationships to guide the development of base-metal catalytic processes to reduce the reliance on rare and costly precious metals.  By establishing these design principles, the project could lead to the next-generation catalysts for the advanced manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and novel materials. The project lies at the interface of synthetic organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and catalysis, making it well-suited to provide high-level education and training for scientists at multiple career stages. Integrated educational activities will engage local high school students, expand access to advanced inorganic chemistry education through community-college partnerships, and share research-inspired learning modules to make the problem-solving process behind modern synthetic chemistry more accessible to a broader audience.

This project could establish electronic structure-reactivity relationships across a series of high-spin catalytic intermediates. The central advance is the use of weak-field pincer ligands to stabilize and characterize highly reactive open-shell species that are typically too short-lived to observe. These include metal-ligand multiply bonded complexes involved in group-transfer catalysis, open-shell metal-boryl compounds relevant to radical borylation, and high-spin metal-alkyl intermediates proposed in olefin functionalization. By isolating these complexes and correlating their spin states, frontier orbitals, redox properties, and ligand-field environments with stoichiometric and catalytic reactivity, this project could define the core principles to control challenging single-electron processes. These insights are expected to

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2541001
- **Awardee organization:** Colorado State University (CO)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** LT9CXX8L19G1
- **PI:** Yuyang Dong
- **Primary program:** 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, Advanced Manufacturing
- **Estimated total:** $737,138
- **Funds obligated:** $737,138
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 07/01/2026 → 06/30/2031

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2541001

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2541001, CAREER: Elucidating Electronic Structure-Reactivity Principles in Base-Metal Catalysis. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2541001. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NSF Awards dataset](/datasets/nsf-awards) · CC0 1.0*