By Irene Hsiao
Transition metal oxo complexes, common intermediates in catalytic oxidation reactions such as hydroxylation, epoxidation, and water oxidation, have long been poorly understood due to their transient, highly reactive nature. While transition metal oxo complexes with lower d-electron counts have previously been isolated, in "Isolation of a Terminal Co(III)-Oxo Complex," published August 5 in JACS, graduate student McKenna Goetz and other members of the Anderson lab isolate and structurally characterize the first example of a Co(III)-oxo complex by using a strongly donating tris(imidazol-2-ylidene)borate scaffold to stabilize the oxo species. This molecule, which has six d-electrons and maintains a Co-O multiple bond, enables the detailed study of frequently invoked but rarely observed late transition metal oxo species.