Catalysis for the Future

The search for novel reactivity will lead to new breakthroughs in catalysis. Catalysis research in the Cook Group is somewhat “metal agnostic” to enable the targeting of the most difficult of bond disconnections. Our work in palladium catalysis, for example, is focused on developing underutilized pathways for palladium to create new reactions and more sustainable carbon-carbon bond-forming transformations. Our work toward “green” catalysis has led to the development of transformations employing Mn, Fe, and Cu. Remarkably, these catalysts enable reactions that simply would not proceed using precious metals. The goal is to discover complementary reactivity to other well explored systems such as Ni, Pd, and Pt.