Chemia fosforu i boru

GrubbaLab

X: @GrubbaLab

Members

  • Rafał Grubba, Ph.D., D.Sc., Eng., GUT Prof.
  • Kinga Kaniewska-Laskowska, Ph.D., Eng.
  • Anna Ordyszewska, Ph.D., Eng.
  • Katarzyna Kowalewska, M.Sc.
  • Tomasz Wojnowski, Eng.
  • Hanna Halenka

Research

The activation of strong bonds in small chemical molecules forms the foundation for the development of chemistry and the chemical industry, allowing for the creation of new substances, materials, and technologies that have wide applications in everyday life. The chemical industry uses the activation of strong bonds to synthesize new materials, such as plastics, drugs, polymers, or chemicals used in the production of various everyday items. In scientific research, the activation of chemical bonds is essential for understanding the chemical properties of different substances and for developing new methods of synthesis and chemical reactions. Understanding bond activation is crucial for designing chemical processes that are more energy-efficient, environmentally safe, and sustainable. Until recently, the activation of small molecules was the exclusive domain of d-block metals and their compounds. Appropriately designed systems based on main group elements can mimic transition metals, making it possible to develop cheap and non-toxic compounds capable of activating strong chemical bonds.

Our research group has made significant achievements in the field of inorganic chemistry and the activation of small molecules. We have discovered a range of non-metallic systems based on boron and phosphorus compounds that exhibit features of intermolecular and intramolecular frustrated Lewis pairs. We applied an innovative approach to designing small molecule activators, where the main characteristics of these systems are the direct boron-phosphorus bond and the low coordination number of boron and phosphorus, three or fewer. The group has made significant progress, enabling the activation of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxide under very mild conditions: at room temperature, atmospheric pressure, and without the use of additional catalysts. Current research focuses on the following topics:

  • The application of frustrated Lewis pairs in small molecule activation and catalysis
  • Low-valent compounds containing a boron-phosphorus bond as molecular tools for breaking and forming chemical bonds
  • Studies of boron cation properties and their application in chemical synthesis
  • Transition metal complexes containing ligands with both Lewis acid and base properties
  • Molecular forms of boron phosphide stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes as precursors to materials with semiconductor properties.

Selected publications

  • K. Kaniewska-Laskowska, A. Ordyszewska, T. Wojnowski, H. Halenka, M. Czapla, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Phosphinoborenium cations stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes: synthesis, structure, and reactivity. Dalton Trans. 43 (2023) 16061-16066, doi:10.1039/D3DT03090C
  • K. Kaniewska-Laskowska, M. Czapla, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba, Application of nonmetallic frustrated cations in the activation of small molecules, Dalton Trans. 52 (2023) 8311-8315, doi:10.1039/D3DT01433A.
  • A. Ordyszewska, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Reactivity of triphosphinoboranes towards H3B∙SMe2: Access to derivatives of boraphosphacycloalkanes with diversified substituents. Dalton Trans. 52 (2023) 4161-4166, doi:10.1039/D3DT00116D.
  • K. Kaniewska-Laskowska, K. Klimsiak, N. Szynkiewicz, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Phosphinoborinium cation: a synthon for cationic B-P bond systems. Chem. Commun. 58 (2022) 10068-10071, doi:10.1039/D2CC02933B.
  • N. Szynkiewicz, A. Ordyszewska, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Diphosphinoboranes as Intramolecular Frustrated Lewis Pairs: P−B−P Bond Systems for the Activation of Dihydrogen, Carbon Dioxide, and Phenyl Isocyanate. Inorg. Chem. 60 (2021) 3794–3806, doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c03563.
  • N. Szynkiewicz, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Activation of N2O and SO2 by the P–B Bond System. Reversible Binding of SO2 by the P–O–B Geminal Frustrated Lewis Pair. Inorg. Chem. (2020), doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c00435.
  • N. Szynkiewicz, A. Ordyszewska, J. Chojnacki, R. Grubba: Diaminophosphinoboranes: effective reagents for phosphinoboration of CO2. RSC Adv. 9 (2019) 27749, doi:10.1039/c9ra06638a.
  • N. Szynkiewicz, Ł. Ponikiewski, R. Grubba: Diphosphination of CO2 and CS2 mediated by frustrated Lewis pairs - catalytic route to phosphanyl derivatives of formic and dithioformic acid. Chem. Commun. 55 (2019) 2928-2931, doi:10.1039/C9CC00621D.