UC Spark

Associate Professor Owen John Curnow

Chemistry

Fields of Research

  • Ionic liquids
  • Homogeneous catalysis
  • Organometallic chemistry
  • Phosphorus coordination chemistry

Researcher Summary

Research interests include:
- New Ionic Liquids
- Cyclopentadienyl ligands containing tethered phosphine functionalities:
Cyclopentadienyl and phosphine ligands are two of the most important classes of ligands in organometallic chemistry. My research aims to link these ligand classes together to provide novel, and potentially useful, polydentate ligands.
- Indenylphosphine ligands:
Investigations using mono-, di-, and tri-indenylphosphine ligands are being carried out in which both the indenyl and phosphine groups are coordinated to metal centres.
- Ethylene-bridged cyclopentadienyl- and indenyl-phosphine ligands:
Ring-opening reactions of spirocyclic heptadienes using phosphide reagents leads to ethylene-bridged cyclopentadienyl- and indenyl-phosphine ligands. The coordination chemistry of these new ligands is being investigated.
- Conformationally-constrained arene ligands:
The stabilisation of arene complexes by tethering to a strongly coordinating ligand in a highly-constrained fashion is being investigated.
- 'Hypervalency':
I have extended the 3-centre 4-electron (3c-4e) bonding ideas of Rundle and Pimentel to include 4c-6e, 5c-8e, and 6c-10e bonding concepts. These bonding schemes result in formal bond orders of less than one which leads to a description of such molecules as "hypobound".

Subject Area: Disciplines

Research Groups

Affiliations

Publications


  • Huber, T., Müssig, J., Curnow, O., Pang, S., Bickerton, S. and Staiger, M.P. (2012) A critical review of all-cellulose composites. Journal of Materials Science 47(3): 1171-1186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10853-011-5774-3. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Holmes, M.T., Ratten, L.C., Walst, K.J. and Yunis, R. (2012) A facile route to functionalised, protic and chiral ionic liquids based on the triaminocyclopropenium cation. RSC Advances 2(29): 10794-10797. http://xlink.rsc.org/?doi=C2RA22078D. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. and Tsuruta, K. (2012) Crystal structure of 3-(phenylthio)indene, C15H12S. Zeitschrift fuer Kristallographie NCS 227(2012): 127-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1524/ncrs.2012.0058. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2012) Ionic liquids: Some of their remarkable properties and some of their applications. Chemistry in New Zealand 76: 118-122. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2012) Preparation of triaminocyclopropenium salts as solvents and electrolytes, and for gas storage. Patent No. WO 2012169909, USA. (Intellectual Property)
  • Butchard, J.R., Curnow, O.J., Garrett, D.J., Maclagan, R.G.A.R., Libowitzky, E., Piccoli, P.M.B. and Schultz, A.J. (2012) Structural, theoretical and spectroscopic studies of the dichloride hexahydrate cube [Cl2(H2O)6]2-. Dalton Transactions 41(38): 11765-11775. http://xlink.rsc.org/?doi=C2DT31212C. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2011) [C3(NEt2)3][N(CN)2]. Ionic Liquid, Commissioned by Sigma-Aldrich, Switzerland. (Artefact/Object)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2011) [C3(NEt2)3]TFSA. Ionic Liquid, Sigma-Aldrich, Switzerland. Commissioned by Sigma-Aldrich, Switzerland. (Artefact/Object)
  • Curnow, O.J., MacFarlane, D.R. and Walst, K.J. (2011) Triaminocyclopropenium salts as ionic liquids. Chemical Communications 47(37): 10248-10250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C1CC13979G. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. and Shang, R. (2010) The synthesis and structure of a thiobenzyl-functionalized dibenzoferrocene complex. Journal of Coordination Chemistry 63(14-16): 2790-2799. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00958971003690447. (Journal Article)
  • Zaman, S., Curnow, O. and Abell, A.D. (2009) Development of Aqueous Metathesis Catalysts. Australian Journal of Chemistry 62(2): 91-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CH08470. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2009) Ionic Liquids: What are they, and what are they good for? Industrial Research Limited, Gracefield, Wellington, New Zealand: 30 Oct 2009. (Oral Presentation)
  • Krumdieck, S., Wallace, J. and Curnow, O. (2008) Compact, low energy CO2 management using amine solution in a packed bubble column. Chemical Engineering Journal 135(1-2): 3-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2007.01.002. (Journal Article)
  • Maclagan, R. and Curnow, O. (2008) Indenyl Ferrocenes - a Test of DFT Theory. Sydney, Australia: World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC 2008), 14-19 Sep 2008. (Conference Contribution - Poster presentation)
  • Butchard, J.R., Curnow, O.J., Pipal, R.J., Robinson, W.T. and Shang, R. (2008) Structural and spectroscopic investigations of non-planar tris(dialkylamino)cyclopropenium cations. Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry 21(2): 127-135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/poc.1296. (Journal Article)
  • Butchard, J.R. and Curnow, O.J. (2007) Aqueous Chemistry of the Five-coordinate Zirconocene Dichloride PhP(CH2CH2-eta-5-C5H4)2ZrCl2: X-ray Structure of the Sulfato Complex PhP(CH2CH2-eta-5-C5H4)2Zr(eta-2-SO4). Polyhedron 26(2): 406-414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2006.06.031. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2007) Determination of the Number of Operations for a Point Group from Only Its Name. Journal of Chemical Education 84(9): 1430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed084p1430. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Robinson, W.T. and Shang, R. (2007) Methyltriphenylphosphonium bromide chloroform hemisolvate. Acta Crystallographica Section E: Structure Reports Online 63(10): o3951. http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S160053680704192X. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2007) Phosphine-substituted Metallocenes - Ferrocene Learns a New Trick. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand: Department seminars, 7 Dec 2007. (Oral Presentation)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M. and Jenkins, E.M. (2006) Electrochemistry and UV/visible spectroscopy of phosphino-substituted bis(η5-indenyl)iron(II) complexes. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 691(4): 643-647. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2005.09.044. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2006) Ferrocenes can do ring-flips too! Singapore: 6th International Symposium for Chinese Inorganic Chemists (ISCIC-6), 17-21 Dec 2006. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Adams, J.J., Curnow, O.J. and Fern, G.M. (2006) Four-coordinate complexes of bis(1-diphenylphosphinoindenyl)iron(II). Inorganica Chimica Acta 359(11): 3596-3604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2006.02.019. (Journal Article)
  • Butchard, J.R., Curnow, O.J., Garrett, D.J. and Maclagan, R.G.A.R. (2006) Structure of a Discrete Dichloride Hexahydrate Cube as a Tris(diisopropylamino)cyclopropenium Salt. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 45(45): 7550-7553. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.200603547. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2006) Substituted Indenyl Ferrocenes. Rotorua, New Zealand: New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Conference 2006, 2-6 Dec 2006. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M. and Pipal, R.J. (2006) Synthesis of diisopropylcyclopropenone and X-ray structure of its dichlorodimethyltin(IV) adduct. ARKIVOC 2006(iii): 43-47. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Krumdieck, S.P. and Jenkins, E.M. (2005) Regeneration of Carbon Dioxide Saturated Monoethanolamine-Glycol Aqueous Solutions at Atmospheric Pressure in a Packed Bubble Reactor. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 44: 1085-1089. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M., Klaib, S., Böhme, U., Lang, H. and Holze, R. (2005) Structure-molecular orbital energy correlations in Me3Si-substituted bis(indenyl)iron complexes evidenced with UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 585: 167-171. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. and Fern, G.M. (2005) Synthesis, structures and spectroelectrochemistry of methyl-substituted bis(η5-indenyl)iron(II) complexes. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 690: 3018-3026. doi:10.1016/j.jorganchem.2005.03.036. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M., Hamilton, M.L., Zahl, A. and van Eldik, R. (2004) Mechanistic Studies on a Facile Ring-Flipping Process in Planar Chiral Ferrocenes under Ambient and High Pressure and Its Relevance to Asymmetric Catalysis. Organometallics 23(4): 906-912. doi:10.1021/om030641d. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M., Hamilton, M.L., Zahl, A. and van Eldik, R. (2004) Mechanistic Studies on a Facile Ring-flipping Process in Planar-chiral Ferrocenes and its Relevance to Asymmetric Catalysis. Adelaide, Australia: 2nd Australia and New Zealand Symposium on Organometallic Chemistry, 11-14 Jan 2004. (Conference Contribution - Oral presentation)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M., Hamilton, M.L. and Jenkins, E.M. (2004) Synthesis, structures and rac/meso isomerization behaviour of bisplanar chiral bis(phosphino-η5-indenyl)iron(II) complexes. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 689(11): 1897-1910. doi:10.1016/j.jorganchem.2004.03.014. (Journal Article)
  • Fern, G.M., Klaib, S., Curnow, O.J. and Lang, H. (2004) Trimethylsilyl-functionalised bis(indenyl)iron(II) complexes: solid-state structure of [η5-1,3-(SiMe3)2C9H5]2Fe. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 689(7): 1139-1144. doi:10.1016/j.jorganchem.2003.11.045. (Journal Article)
  • Adams, J.J., Berry, D.E., Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M., Hamilton, M.L., Kitto, H.J. and Pipal, J.R. (2003) Oxide, Sulfide, Selenide, and Borane Derivatives of Indenylphosphines. Australian Journal of Chemistry 56(11): 1153-1160. doi:10.1071/CH02256. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Fern, G.M. and Wöll, D. (2003) Synthesis of the sterically constrained ligand precursor cyclopentadienyl-2,6-diphenylbenzene and structure of [(2,6-Ph2–C6H3-η5-C5H4)Zr(NEt2)3] - Short Communication. Inorganic Chemistry Communications 6(9): 1201-1204. doi:10.1016/S1387-7003(03)00222-3. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. and Fern, G.M. (2002) Facile meso to rac Isomerization of the Bis-Planar Chiral Ferrocenyldiphosphine Bis(1-(diphenylphosphino)-eta-5-indenyl)iron(II). Organometallics 21: 2827-2829. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2001) Hypervalent compounds of the first row. Chem NZ 82: 29-30. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (2000) Organometallic Chemistry. Chem NZ 79: 19-24. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O. J. (1999) Synthesis and Chemistry of Some Complexes Containing Novel Phosphine-functionalised Cyclopentadienyl and Indenyl Ligands. Auckland: Organometallic Chemistry in the South Pacific: A Celebration, January, 1999. (Conference Contribution - Other)
  • Adams, J.J., Curnow, O.J., Huttner, G., Smail, S.J. and Turnbull, M.M. (1999) Synthesis and electrochemistry of complexes containing the ferrocenyl-phosphine ligand PPh(CH2CH2-h5-C5H4)2Fe. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 577(1): 44-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-328X(98)01032-8. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J. (1998) A Simple Qualitative Molecular-Orbital/Valence-Bond Description of the Bonding in Main Group 'Hypervalent' Molecules. Journal of Chemical Education 75(7): 910-915. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed075p910. (Journal Article)
  • Hughes, R.P., Zheng, X., Morse, C.A., Curnow, O.J., Lomprey, J.R., Rheingold, A.L. and Yap, G.P.A. (1998) Syntheses of the Complete Set of Isomerically Pure, Partially Fluorinated Cyclopentadienyl Ligands (C5F5-nHn) [n = 1−4] by Flash Vacuum Thermolysis of (η5-Oxocyclohexadienyl)ruthenium Complexes. Molecular Structures of [Ru(η5-C5Me5)(η5-C5-1,2-F2H3)] and [Ru(η5-C5Me5)(η5-C5H4F)]. Organometallics 17(3): 457-465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/om970775p. (Journal Article)
  • Lichtenberger, D.L., Elkadi, Y., Gruhn, N., Curnow, O.J., Hughes, R.P. and Zheng, X. (1997) Electronic Structure Perturbations of Substituted Ruthenocenes: The First Photoelectron Spectra of Perchloro- and Perfluorocyclopentadienyl Complexes. Organometallics 16(24): 5209--5217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/om9705416. (Journal Article)
  • Curnow, O.J., Curtis, M.D. and Kampf, J.W. (1997) Reactivity of Cp‘2Mo2Co2S3(CO)4 with Diphosphines: Synthesis of Cp‘2Mo2Co2S3(μ3-CO)(η2-dmpe)2 and X-ray Structure of [Cp‘2Mo2Co2S3(μ3-CH)(η2-dmpe)2]Cl. Organometallics 16(12): 2523-2529. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/om9610455. (Journal Article)
  • Butchard, J.R., Curnow, O.J. and Smail, S.J. (1997) Synthesis and X-ray structures of the five-coordinate zirconocene complexes PhP(CH2CH2-h5-C5H4)2ZrCl2, [PhP(CH2CH2-h5-C5H4)2ZrCl(H2O)]Cl and PhP(CH2CH2-h5-C5H4)2Zr(NCS)2. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 541(1-2): 407-416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-328X(97)00117-4. (Journal Article)