Joseph Sadighi Associate Professor Office: MS&E G022 Phone: 404-385-2244 Fax: 404-894-9543 E-mail Joseph Sadighi

B.A., Williams College, 1994; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999; NIH Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology, 1999-2001

NSF CAREER Award - 2004; Everett Moore Baker Award for Oustanding Undergraduate Teaching (MIT Award) - 2007; Outstanding UROP Mentor Award (MIT Award) - 2007

Research Interests

Research in the Sadighi group will focus initially on the design and synthesis of late transition metal complexes in unusual coordination environments and oxidation states. Complexes of interest will be designed based on their potential to effect difficult bond-forming and bond-breaking reactions, and eventually to catalyze new small molecule transformations.

The activation of carbon dioxide, despite impressive recent advances, continues to present major challenges and opportunities. These challenges are closely relevant, and perhaps complementary, to the development of renewable energy: A conversion of CO2 to chemical fuel could make CO2 a currency, rather than a waste product, of energy use. Another area of interest is the reaction chemistry of metal complexes bearing fluorinated organyl moieties. These complexes hold great promise in the synthesis of useful fluorinated organic compounds, and their potential has been only lightly explored.

Recent Publications

Tsui, E. Y.; Müller, P.; Sadighi, J. P. "Reactions of a Stable Monomeric Gold(I) Hydride Complex." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 8937-8940.

Bhattacharyya, K. X.; Akana, J. A.; Laitar, D. S.; Berlin, J. M.; Sadighi, J. P. "Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation on Reaction of a Copper(I) Stannyl Complex with Carbon Dioxide." Organometallics 2008, 27, 2682-2684.

Lee, C. H.; Laitar, D. S.; Müller, P.; Sadighi, J. P. "Generation of a Doubly Bridging CO2 Ligand and Deoxygenation of CO2 by an (NHC)Ni(0) Complex." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 13802-13803.

Akana, J. A.; Bhattachayya, K. X.; Müller, P.; Sadighi, J. P. "Reversible C-F Bond Formation and the Au-Catalyzed Hydrofluorination of Alkynes." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 7736-7737.

Laitar, D. S.; Tsui, E. Y.; Sadighi, J. P. "Catalytic Diboration of Aldehydes via Insertion into the Copper-Boron Bond." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 11036-11037.

Laitar, D. S.; Müller, P.; Sadighi, J. P. "Efficient Homogeneous Catalysis in the Reduction of CO2 to CO." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 17196-17197.

Laitar, D. S.; Müller, P.; Gray, T. G.; Sadighi, J. P. "A Carbene-Stabilized Gold(I) Fluoride: Synthesis and Theory." Organometallics 2005, 24, 4503-4505.

Mankad, N. P.; Laitar, D. S.; Sadighi, J. P. "Synthesis, Structure and Alkyne Reactivity of a Dimeric (Carbene)copper(I) Hydride." Organometallics 2004, 23, 3369-3371.