Steven Ittel

Last updated
Steven D. Ittel
Steven Ittel Portrait.jpg
Born1946
Nationality United States
Alma mater Miami University
Northwestern University
Known forHomogeneous catalysis and
organometallic chemistry
Scientific career
Fields Inorganic chemistry
Institutions DuPont Central Research

Steven Dale Ittel (born 1946 in Hamilton, Ohio) is an American chemist specializing in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis.

Contents

Training

Ittel attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1968. He was then commissioned as an officer in the United States Public Health Service and studied photochemical smog in the New York City metropolitan area from 1968 to 1970. He attended Northwestern University, where he received his PhD in chemistry under the direction of James A. Ibers in 1974.

Career

Ittel worked on hydride activation of lanthanides for Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) at Monsanto's Mound Laboratories for a short time. Upon receiving his PhD from Northwestern University, he joined DuPont’s Central Research Department at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware.

Ittel is best known for his contributions to organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. He discovered fluxional processes in both diamagnetic [1] and paramagnetic [2] π-allyl organometallic complexes bearing M-H-C agostic interactions. He was responsible for a series of C-H activation reactions based upon fleeting zero-valent iron complexes bearing bidentate phosphorus ligands. [3] [4]

While working on the air oxidation of cyclohexane to adipic acid (an intermediate in the preparation of nylon-66) he discovered a series of bis(pyridylimino)isoindoline complexes of cobalt to be very effective catalysts for the decomposition of the intermediate cyclohexylhydroperoxide. [5] He led and contributed to DuPont’s technology for cobalt-catalyzed chain transfer in acrylic radical polymerization. [6] The resulting macromonomers are utilized commercially in a broad range of automotive finishes.

As a manager at DuPont, he directed the work of almost 100 DuPont scientists over the years. One major effort was on DuPont Versipol post-metallocene catalysts for ethylene coordination polymerization and copolymerization. [7]

Late in his career, his research interests became more diverse, yet he never left his central focus of transition metal chemistry. Biopanning produced polypeptides that would selectively bind minerals such as clays and calcium carbonate to cellulose, skin, hair, and other surfaces. [8] His contributions to nanotechnology and the electronics and displays industries include printing carbon nanotubes for plasma displays, [9] spin printing [10] and inkjet printing [11] of nanomaterials, and fluoro-resists for printing OLED displays. [12] Ittel coauthored the definitive textbook, Homogeneous Catalysis, [13] with George Parshall, and his work is recorded in over 150 citations in Chemical Abstracts .

Ittel practices the art of bonsai, curates the bonsai collection at Longwood Gardens, [14] and has displayed trees at Longwood Gardens and the Brandywine River Museum.

Personal life

Ittel's father was a superintendent of a rural school district and a YMCA camp director, so he spent the first 19 summers of his life at Camp Campbell Gard outside Hamilton, Ohio. His mother was one of the 165 victims of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire.

He is married to Kathleen P. Ittel, Esq. and they have two children.

Related Research Articles

A post-metallocene catalyst is a kind of catalyst for the polymerization of olefins, i.e., the industrial production of some of the most common plastics. "Post-metallocene" refers to a class of homogeneous catalysts that are not metallocenes. This area has attracted much attention because the market for polyethylene, polypropylene, and related copolymers is large. There is a corresponding intense market for new processes as indicated by the fact that, in the US alone, 50,000 patents were issued between 1991-2007 on polyethylene and polypropylene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titanocene dichloride</span> Chemical compound

Titanocene dichloride is the organotitanium compound with the formula (η5-C5H5)2TiCl2, commonly abbreviated as Cp2TiCl2. This metallocene is a common reagent in organometallic and organic synthesis. It exists as a bright red solid that slowly hydrolyzes in air. It shows antitumour activity and was the first non-platinum complex to undergo clinical trials as a chemotherapy drug.

Hydrosilylation, also called catalytic hydrosilation, describes the addition of Si-H bonds across unsaturated bonds. Ordinarily the reaction is conducted catalytically and usually the substrates are unsaturated organic compounds. Alkenes and alkynes give alkyl and vinyl silanes; aldehydes and ketones give silyl ethers. Hydrosilylation has been called the "most important application of platinum in homogeneous catalysis."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Parshall</span> American chemist (1929–2019)

George W. Parshall was an American organometallic chemist who made notable contributions to homogeneous catalysis. He was a senior scientist at E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company for many years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ligand cone angle</span> Measure of the steric bulk of a ligand in a coordination complex

In coordination chemistry, the ligand cone angle is a measure of the steric bulk of a ligand in a transition metal coordination complex. It is defined as the solid angle formed with the metal at the vertex and the outermost edge of the van der Waals spheres of the ligand atoms at the perimeter of the cone. Tertiary phosphine ligands are commonly classified using this parameter, but the method can be applied to any ligand. The term cone angle was first introduced by Chadwick A. Tolman, a research chemist at DuPont. Tolman originally developed the method for phosphine ligands in nickel complexes, determining them from measurements of accurate physical models.

In 1957, the research organization of the Chemicals Department of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company was renamed Central Research Department, beginning the history of the premier scientific organization within DuPont and one of the foremost industrial laboratories devoted to basic science. Located primarily at the DuPont Experimental Station and Chestnut Run, in Wilmington, Delaware, it has expanded to include laboratories in Geneva, Switzerland, Seoul, South Korea, Shanghai, China, and India(Hyderabad). In January, 2016 a major layoff marked the end of the organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Marie Basset</span> French chemist


Jean-Marie Basset is a French chemist, and is currently the director of KAUST catalysis research center.

Martin Arthur Bennett FRS is an Australian inorganic chemist. He gained recognition for studies on the co-ordination chemistry of tertiary phosphines, olefins, and acetylenes, and the relationship of their behaviour to homogeneous catalysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organorhodium chemistry</span>

Organorhodium chemistry is the chemistry of organometallic compounds containing a rhodium-carbon chemical bond, and the study of rhodium and rhodium compounds as catalysts in organic reactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron tetracarbonyl dihydride</span> Chemical compound

Iron tetracarbonyl dihydride is the organometallic compound with the formula H2Fe(CO)4. This compound was the first transition metal hydride discovered. The complex is stable at low temperatures but decomposes rapidly at temperatures above –20 °C.

Catalytic chain transfer (CCT) is a process that can be incorporated into radical polymerization to obtain greater control over the resulting products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Muetterties</span>

Earl Muetterties, was an American inorganic chemist born in Illinois, who is known for his experimental work with boranes, homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, fluxional processes in organometallic complexes and apicophilicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chadwick A. Tolman</span>

Chadwick A. Tolman is an American chemist. He obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry as a microwave spectroscopist from U.C. Berkeley under the guidance of William Dulaney Gwinn.

Tolman's rule states that, in a certain chemical reaction, the steps involve exclusively intermediates of 18- and 16 electron configuration. The rule is an extension of the 18-electron rule. This rule was proposed by American chemist Chadwick A. Tolman. As stated above, Tolman's rule, even for reactions that proceed via 2e steps, is incorrect because many reactions involve configurations of fewer than 16 e.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metal-phosphine complex</span>

A metal-phosphine complex is a In coordination complex containing one or more phosphine ligands. Almost always, the phosphine is an organophosphine of the type R3P (R = alkyl, aryl). Metal phosphine complexes are useful in homogeneous catalysis. Prominent examples of metal phosphine complexes include Wilkinson's catalyst (Rh(PPh3)3Cl), Grubbs' catalyst, and tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick N. Tebbe</span>

Frederick Nye Tebbe was a chemist known for his work on organometallic chemistry. Tebbe was born in Oakland, California on March 20, 1935. His father, Charles L. Tebbe, worked for the United States Forest Service so Fred’s early education took place in Montana, Oregon, Maryland and Pennsylvania. He married Margaret Manzer in 1960, and they had a son and a daughter. He died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Delaware on September 28, 1995.

William Charles Drinkard, Jr. was an American industrial chemist and the inventor of the catalytic hydrocyanation process for making adiponitrile, a key intermediate in nylon production.

Kenneth G. Caulton is an inorganic chemist who works on, and has made significant contributions to, projects dealing with transition metal hydrides. He is currently Distinguished Professor at Indiana University. Specifically, Caulton has worked on the chemistry of paramagnetic organometallic complexes, metal polyhydride complexes and the dihydrogen ligand, catalytic activation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and alkoxide chemistry. Caulton's work with transition metal complexes is ultimately aimed to create complexes that exhibit unexpected and novel reactivities.

T. Don Tilley is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

In homogeneous catalysis, C2-symmetric ligands refer to ligands that lack mirror symmetry but have C2 symmetry. Such ligands are usually bidentate and are valuable in catalysis. The C2 symmetry of ligands limits the number of possible reaction pathways and thereby increases enantioselectivity, relative to asymmetrical analogues. C2-symmetric ligands are a subset of chiral ligands. Chiral ligands, including C2-symmetric ligands, combine with metals or other groups to form chiral catalysts. These catalysts engage in enantioselective chemical synthesis, in which chirality in the catalyst yields chirality in the reaction product.

References

  1. Jack M. Williams, Richard K. Brown, Arthur J. Schultz, Galen D. Stucky, and Steven D. Ittel, "Interaction of an Aliphatic Hydrogen Atom with a Transition Metal. The First Direct Observation of a Strong C-H...Metal Interaction Derived from a Single Crystal Neutron Diffraction Study of Fe[P(OCH3)3]3(h3-C8H13)]+[BF4]-," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 100, 7407 (1978).
  2. S. D. Ittel. P. J. Krusic, and P. Meakin, "An Electron Spin Resonance Study of the Fluxional Nature of Paramagnetic (π-Alkenyl)tris(trimethyl phosphite)iron Complexes," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 100, 3264 (1978).
  3. S. D. Ittel, C. A. Tolman, A. D. English, and J. P. Jesson, "The Chemistry of 2-Naphthyl bis[bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane] Hydride Complexes of Fe, Ru, and Os. 2. Cleavage of sp and sp3 C-H, C-O, and C-X Bonds. Coupling of Carbon Dioxide and Acetonitrile," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 100, 7577 (1978).
  4. C. A. Tolman, S. D. Ittel, A. D. English, and J. P. Jesson, "Chemistry of 2-Naphthyl- bis[bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane] Hydride Complexes of Iron, Ruthenium, and Osmium. 3. Cleavage of sp2 C-H Bonds," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 101, 1742 (1979).
  5. US Patent 4,326,084, "Improved Catalytic Process for Oxidation of Cyclohexane and Decomposition of Cyclohexylhydroperoxide," J. D. Druliner, S. D. Ittel, P. J. Krusic, and C. A. Tolman, April 20, 1982.
  6. Alexei A. Gridnev and Steven D. Ittel, “Catalytic Chain Transfer in Free-Radical Polymerizations,” Chem. Rev., 101(12), 3611-3659 (2001).
  7. Steven D. Ittel, Lynda K. Johnson, and Maurice Brookhart, "Late Metal Catalysts for Ethylene Homo- and Copolymerization," Chem. Rev. (Washington, D. C.), 100(4), 1169-1203 (2000).
  8. US Patent 7,749,957 B2, “Clay-Binding Peptides and Methods of Use,” Steven Dale Ittel, Scott D. Cunningham, Pierre E. Rouviere, Stephen R. Fahnestock, John P. O'Brien, Eberhard Schneider, Gregor Schurmann, Peter Wagner. July 6, 2010.
  9. WPO Patent Application 2009108226, “Process for Protecting Carbon Nanotubes,” Steven Dale Ittel. Published September 3, 2009.
  10. US Patent 7,618,704 B2, "Spin Printing of Electronic and Display Components" Steven Dale Ittel and Jeffrey G. Crawford. Nov 17, 2009.
  11. US Patent 7,691,280 B2, “Ink Jet Printing of Etchants and Modifiers,” Robert Paul Waldrop, Steven Dale Ittel, and Howard E. Simmons III. April 6, 2010.
  12. WPO Patent Application 2009055628 A1, “Process and Materials For Making Contained Layers and Devices Made With Same,” Charles D. Lang, Paul Anthony Sant, Jerald Feldman, Steven Dale Ittel, Stephan James McLain,... Filed October 26, 2007. Published 4/30/2009.
  13. "Homogeneous Catalysis," 2nd Edition, George W. Parshall and Steven D. Ittel, Wiley Interscience, New York (1992).
  14. Mary Allinson, “Bonsai Beginnings - A look at the origin of Longwood’s Bonsai Collection,” Longwood Chimes, 292, Winter, 2016, p20.