Morris Bullock
Lab Fellow
Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
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P.O. Box 999 / K2-57
Richland, WA 99352
Education
B.S., Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1979
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1984
Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Jack Norton at Colorado State University (1984-1985)
Research Interests
Morris Bullock joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Laboratory Fellow in 2006, and is a member of the Molecular Interactions and Transformations Group in the Chemical and Materials Sciences Division. From 1985-2006, he was in the Chemistry Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
His research interests are in synthetic, kinetic, and mechanistic aspects of transition metal organometallic complexes and their use as homogeneous catalysts. Much of his work focuses on the reactivity of metal hydrides, and the factors that influence the cleavage of the M-H bond as a proton, a hydride, or a hydrogen atom. He and his co-workers are developing homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts that are based on cheap metals like molybdenum or tungsten. These catalysts function through an ionic hydrogenation mechanism, in which H2 is added to the C=O bond of a ketone by H+ transfer from a cationic dihydride complex, followed by H– transfer from a neutral metal hydride. Related interests include development of new catalysts for hydrosilylation, use of alternative resources as feedstocks, and readily recyclable catalysts.
In addition to these studies that focus on heterolytic bond cleavage pathways (proton and hydride transfers), studies are also being carried out on fundamental aspects of homolytic bond cleavage reactions. While metal-to-carbon hydrogen atom transfers are well-known, few studies have focused on the opposite reaction, carbon-to-metal hydrogen atom transfer. We have discovered examples in which such reactions can be directly observed by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy. Our studies seek to address fundamental questions about the thermodynamics and kinetics of these reactions.
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