Research Division Dr. Macarena Poyatos

The main research interest of the group is the design and synthesis of new N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands for the preparation of improved catalysts and materials with interesting photophysical properties. We are particularly interested in those NHC ligands containing polyaromatic fragments, since we have demonstrated that non-covalent Π-stacking interactions have an influence in the catalytic properties of complexes with polyaromatic ligands.

More specifically, our current research interest is the preparation of NHC ligands that incorporate a redox-active functionality for the preparation of redox-switchable catalysts. In principle, the introduction of a redox-active fragment within a ligand framework potentially allows the modulation of the reactivity and selectivity of complexed metal fragments through the electrochemical switching of the redox center. In this regard, we have described a family of rigid NHC ligands bearing a ferrocene fragment, in which the carbene unit and the redox fragment are connected through a polyaromatic linker. The coordination of this ligands to different metal fragments have provided examples of redox-switchable catalysts, in which the introduction of a redox stimuli (oxidation or reduction) switches on the otherwise inactive complexes.

Our division is also interested in the study of the photophysical properties of metal complexes bearing polyaromatic NHC ligands.

Short Biography of Dr. Poyatos

Macarena Poyatos graduated in Chemistry in 2001 at Jaume I University (Castellón-Spain). She received her Ph.D. Degree with honors (2005) at Jaume I University, under the supervision of Prof. Eduardo Peris. She then moved to Strasbourg as a postdoctoral fellow and worked in the synthesis and coordination of chiral oxazoline-based ligands and asymmetric catalysis, under the supervision of Prof. Lutz H. Gade and Dr. Stéphane Bellemin-Laponnaz. In 2006, she joined Prof. Robert H. Crabtree’s group at Yale University, where she stayed for two years, working on the use of organic liquids for hydrogen storage and design of new NHC ligands. In 2008, she returned to Jaume I University with the ‘Juan de la Cierva’ program (2008-2010). She was awarded a ‘Ramón y Cajal’ contract in 2010 (2010-2015). Since Oct. 2015, she is a ‘Profesor Contratado Doctor’. At Jaume I University, she has worked in the design of new N-heterocyclic carbene ligands with different topologies for the preparation of homogeneous catalysts and luminescent materials. She has published 45 research articles, which have received more than 3000 citations. In average, her research papers have received 68 citations per paper.