A Special Seminar by Dr. Patrick Holland (Yale University)

Join the students of the "Chem Sems" (CHEM295 class sessions) as they partake in a special lecture from Dr. Patrick Holland of Yale University.

“Nitrogen Fixation” refers to chemical processes that convert N2 from the air into ammonia that is
a source of N-containing materials, commodity chemicals, fuels, and fertilizers. Nitrogen fixation
has particular importance for the production of fertilizers, and artificial nitrogen fixation is
currently responsible for roughly half of the world agricultural output. However, the mechanism
through which the N-N bond of N2 is not understood. Since both the biological and artificial
catalysts for this reaction use iron, my research group and I have focused on understanding the
details of iron-N2 chemistry using the tools of coordination chemistry. I will discuss how advances
in the synthesis of low-coordinate iron coordination compounds have led to iron complexes with
in which the nitrogen-nitrogen bond of N2 is weakened and broken, and N-H bonds are formed,
through well-characterized reactions. These new research results help chemists to understand
elementary steps in the conversion of dinitrogen to ammonia.

Join  the "Chem Sems" session for this interesting presentation on Thursday, Feb. 21st, at 11:30a in SB010. Any questions? Contact Erika Purcell-Williams (eap2@calvin.edu) for further assistance.