Professor Andrew Weller

Research

Research in the Weller group is based upon synthetic organometallic chemistry and catalysis, and in particular the generation and stabilisation of transition metal complexes with a low coordination number. These complexes often show very interesting, and novel, structures that display C–H, B–H and C–C bonding modes (via agostic or sigma interactions). Not only are we interested in the fundamentals of synthesis, bonding and structure of these complexes, but we also have a focus on their use and development in challenging catalytic bond transformations, such as C–H, B–H and C–C activation for the synthesis platform chemicals, new materials or fine chemicals. Collaborations with synthetic organic chemists (Professor Michael Willis, Oxford), computational chemists (Professor Stuart Macgregor, Heriot–Watt), experts in the study of mechanism using kinetics (Professor Guy Lloyd–Jones, Edinburgh) and novel analytical techniques (Professor J. S. McIndoe, University of Victoria), and Inorganic Materials Chemists (Professor Ian Manners, University of Victoria) also lead to a deeper understanding of structures and reactivity and applications of many of the new complexes and catalytic systems discovered.

Biography

Andrew Weller is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of York, moving with his group in January 2020. Prior to this position he was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of Magdalen College. He moved to Oxford in 2007, after starting his independent career at the University Bath in 1999 as a Royal Society University Research Fellow, promoted to Reader in 2004.

He completed his first degree at the University of Warwick, a PhD at Bristol (advised by Dr John Jeffery), and PDRA positions at Heriot–Watt (Professor Alan Welch) and Notre Dame (Professor Tom Fehlner).

Weller was the recipient of the inaugural Dalton Transactions European Lectureship award 2008. He was a 2013/14 Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Visiting Scholar, UBC, Canada; in 2015 the Howard Fellow, University New South Wales, Australia, a visiting Professor at the University of Perugia, Italy and a Vielberth Fellowship at the University of Regensburg (2016). He held an EPSRC Established Career Fellowship (2015–2021) and was recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry Frankland award in 2016. While at Oxford he was co–director of the recently funded EPSRC CDT in Inorganic Synthesis for Future Manufacturing (OxICFM).

Publications

ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1646-8081

Recent Publications

2023

M. A. Sajjad, S. A. Macgregor*, A.S. Weller A Comparison of Non-Covalent Interactions in the Crystal Structures of two σ-Alkane Complexes of Rh Exhibiting Contrasting Stabilities in the Solid State Faraday Trans. 2023 in the press. [.pdf]

M. R. Gyton, C. G. Royle S. K. Beaumont, S. B. Duckett,* A. S. Weller* Mechanistic Insight into Molecular Crystalline Organometallic Heterogeneous Catalysis Through Parahydrogen Based Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies J. Am. Chem. Soc. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 2629. [.pdf] Editors' Choice 

T. Krämer,* F. M. Chadwick, S. A. Macgregor,* and A. S. Weller Solid-State Confinement Effects in Selective exo-H/D exchange in the Rh σ-Norbornane Complex [(Cy₂PCH₂CH₂PCy₂)Rh(η²:η²-C₇H₁₂)][BArF4] Helvetica Chimica Acta 2023, e202200154 (special issue dedicated to Jack Dunitz) [.pdf] 

J. J. Race, A. Heyam, M. A. Wiebe, J. D.-G. Hernandez, C. E. Ellis, S. Lei, I. Manners,* A. S. Weller* Polyphosphinoborane Block Copolymer Synthesis using Catalytic Reversible Chain Transfer Dehydropolymerization. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202216106 [.pdf] 

2022

C. N. Brodie,* L. Sotorrios, T. M. Boyd, S. A. Macgregor* and A. S. Weller* Dehydropolymerization of H₃B·NMeH₂ Mediated by Cationic Iridium(III) Precatalysts Bearing κ³-ⁱPr-PN(R)P Pincer Ligands (R = H, Me). An Unexpected Inner-Sphere Mechanism. ACS Catal. 2022, 12, 13050 [.pdf] 

C. G. Royle, L. Sotorrios, M. R. Gyton, C. N. Brodie, A. L. Burnage, S. K. Furfari, A. Marini, M. R. Warren, S. A. Macgregor,* Andrew S. Weller* Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal Addition of H2 to [Ir(iPr-PONOP)(propene)][BArF4] and Comparison Between Solid-State and Solution Reactivity. Organometallics 2022, 41, 3270 [.pdf]. Special issue dedicated to Maurice Brookhart.

O. P. E. Townrow, S. B. Duckett, A. S. Weller * and J. M. Goicoechea* Zintl cluster supported low coordinate Rh(I) centers for catalytic H/D exchange between H₂ and D₂ Chem. Sci. 2022, 13, 7226 [.pdf] 

J. J. Race,* M. J. Webb, T. M. Boyd, A. S. Weller* Ortho-F,F-DPEphos: Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry in Rhodium and Gold Complexes, and Comparison with DPEphos Eur.J. Inorg. Chem. 2022, e202200174 [.pdf] Front Cover.  

L. R. Doyle, E. A. Thompson, A. L. Burnage, A. C. Whitwood, H. T. Jenkins,* S. A. Macgregor,* A. S. Weller.* MicroED characterization of a robust cationic σ-alkane complex stabilized by the [B(3,5-(SF₅)₂C₆H₃)₄]⁻ anion, via on-grid solid/gas single-crystal to single-crystal reactivity Dalton Trans. 2022, 51, 3661-3665 [.pdf]  

Y. Shi, A. S. Weller, J. Blacker, P. W. Dyer* Conversion of butanol to propene in flow: A triple dehydration, isomerisation and metathesis cascade. Cat. Commun. 2022, 164, 106421. [.pdf] 

L. R. Doyle,* M. R. Galpin, S. K. Furfari, B. E. Tegner, A. J. Martínez-Martínez, A. C. Whitwood, S. A. Hicks, G. C. Lloyd-Jones, S. A. Macgregor,* and A. S. Weller* Inverse Isotope Effects in Single-Crystal to Single-Crystal Reactivity and the Isolation of a Rhodium Cyclooctane σ-Alkane Complex Organometallics 2022, 41, 284. [.pdf] 

R. N. Perutz, S. Sabo-Etienne and A S. Weller, Metathesis by partner interchange in σ-bond ligands: expanding applications of the σ-CAM mechanism Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202111462. [.pdf]

2021

C. N. Brodie, T. M. Boyd, L. Sotorríos, D. E. Ryan, E. Magee, S. Huband, J. S. Town, G. C. Lloyd-Jones, D. M. Haddleton, S. A. Macgregor, A. S. Weller Controlled Synthesis of Well-Defined Polyaminoboranes on Scale Using a Robust and Efficient Catalyst.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 21010. [.pdf] 

O. P. E. Townrow, A. S. Weller* and J. M. Goicoechea* Cluster expansion and vertex substitution pathways in nickel germanide Zintl clusters Chem. Commun. 2021, 57, 7132 [.pdf] 

J. J. Race, A. L. Burnage, T. M. Boyd, A. Heyam, A. J. Martínez-Martínez, S. A. Macgregor,* A. S. Weller* Ortho-aryl substituted DPEphos ligands: Rhodium Complexes Featuring C–H Anagostic Interactions and B–H Agostic Bonds Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 8832 [.pdf] 

A. J. Bukvic, A. L. Burnage, G. J. Tizzard, A. J. Martínez-Martínez, A. I. McKay, N. H. Rees, B. E. Tegner, T. Krämer, H. Fish, M. R. Warren, S. J. Coles, S. A. Macgregor* and A. S. Weller* A Series of Crystallographically Characterized Linear and Branched σ-Alkane Complexes of Rhodium: From Propane to 3-Methylpentane. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 5106. [.pdf] 

A. Johnson, C. G. Royle, C. N. Brodie, A. J. Martínez-Martínez, S. B. Duckett and A. S. Weller* η²-Alkene Complexes of [Rh(PONOP-ⁱPr)(L)]⁺ Cations (L = COD, NBD, ethene). Intramolecular Alkene-Assisted Hydrogenation and a Dihydrogen Complex [Rh(PONOP-iPr)(η-H₂)]⁺ Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 13903 [.pdf]  

S. K. Furfari, B. E. Tegner, A. L. Burnage, L. R. Doyle, A. J. Bukvic, S. A. Macgregor* and A. S. Weller* Selectivity of Rh···H–C Binding in a σ-Alkane Complex Controlled by the Secondary Microenvironment in the Solid-State. Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 3177. [.pdf] 

2020

A. G. Algarra, A. L. Burnage, M. Iannuzzi, T. Krämer, S. A. Macgregor* R. E. M. Pirie, B. Tegner, A. S. Weller Computational Studies of the Solid-State Molecular Organometallic (SMOM) Chemistry of Rh σ-Alkane Complexes, Structure and Bonding 2020, 186, 183.

O. P. E. Townrow, C. Chung, S. A. Macgregor, A. S. Weller,* and J. M. Goicoecheaa* A Neutral Heteroatomic Zintl Cluster for the Catalytic Hydrogenation of Cyclic Alkenes J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 18335

D. E. Ryan, K. A. Andrea, J. J. Race, T. M. Boyd, G. C. Lloyd–Jones and A. S. Weller* Amine-Borane Dehydropolymerization using Rh-based Pre-Catalysts: Resting State, Chain-Control and Efficient Polymer Synthesis. ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 7443.

S. Azpeitia, A. J. Martinéz-Martinéz, M. A. Garralda, A. S. Weller* and M. A. Huertos* Si–C(sp3) Bond Activation Through Oxidative Addition at a Rh(I) centre Dalton Trans. 2020, 49, 5416.

A. J. Bukvic, D.-G. Crivoi, H. G. Garwood, A. I. McKay, T. D. Chen, A. J. Martínez–Martínez and A. S. Weller* Tolerant to Air σ–Alkane Complexes by Surface Modification of Single Crystalline Solid–State Molecular Organometallics using Vapour–Phase Cationic Polymerisation: SMOM@polymer Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 4328.

T. M. Boyd, B. E. Tegner G. J. Tizzard, A. Martínez–Martínez, S.E. Neale, M. A. Hayward, S. J. Coles, S. A. Macgregor,* A. S. Weller* A Structurally Characterized Cobalt(I) σ–Alkane Complex Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 6177.

A. J. Martínez-Martínez, C. G. Royle, S. K. Furfari, K. Suriye, A. S. Weller* Solid–state Molecular Organometallic Catalysis in Gas/Solid Flow (Flow-SMOM) as Demonstrated by Efficient Room Temperature and Pressure 1–Butene Isomerization. ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 1984.

T. M. Boyd, K. A. Andrea, K. Baston, A. Johnson, D. E. Ryan, A. S. Weller,* A Simple Cobalt–Based Catalyst System for the Controlled Dehydropolymerisation of H3B·NMeH2 on the Gram-Scale Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 482.

A. I. McKay, J. Barwick-Silk, M. Savage, M. C. Willis and A.S. Weller* Synthesis of highly fluorinated arene complexes of [Rh(chelating phosphine)]+cations, and their use in synthesis and catalysis Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 2883.

2019

A. J. Martinez-Martinez, N. H. Rees, A. S. Weller* Reversible Encapsulation of Xenon and CH2Cl2 in a Solid?State Molecular OrganoMetallic Framework (Guest@SMOM) Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 16873.

E. A. K. Spearing-Ewyn, N. A. Beattie, A. L. Colebatch, A. J. Martinez-Martinez, A. Docker, T. M. Boyd, G. Baillie, R. Reed, S. A. Macgregor,* A. S. Weller* The Role of Neutral Rh(PONOP)H, free NMe2H, Boronium and Ammonium Salts in the Dehydrocoupling of Dimethylamine-borane using the Cationic Pincer [Rh(PONOP)(η2–H2)]+ Catalyst. Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 14724

A. I. McKay, A. J. Bukvic, B. E. Tegner, A. L. Burnage, A. J. Martinez-Martinez, N. H. Rees, S. A. Macgregor,* A. S. Weller* Room Temperature Acceptorless Alkane Dehydrogenation from Molecular σ–Alkane Complexes, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 11700.

A. Johnson, A. J. Martínez-Martínez, S. A. Macgregor* and A. S. Weller* A d10 Ag(I) amine–borane σ–complex and comparison with a d8 Rh(I) analogue: structures on the η1 to η2η2 continuum. Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 9776

M. Dietz, A. Johnson, A. Martínez–Martínez, A.S. Weller* The [Rh(Xantphos)]+ Catalyzed Hydroboration of Diphenylacetylene using Trimethyl Amine–Borane. Inorganica Chimica Acta 2019, 491, 9

G. M. Adams, D. E. Ryan, N. A. Beattie, A. I. McKay, G. C. Lloyd–Jones and A. S. Weller Dehydropolymerization of H3B·NMeH2 using a [Rh(DPEphos)]+catalyst: the promoting effect of NMeH2 ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 3657.

A. J. Martínez-Martínez* and A. S. Weller* Solvent-free Anhydrous Li+, Na+ and K+ salts of [B(3,5–(CF3)2C6H3)4]–, [BArF 4]–. Improved Synthesis and Solid-State Structures. Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 3551.

A. L. Colebatch* and A. S. Weller* Amine-borane Dehydropolymerization: Challenges and Opportunities, Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 1379.

Vacancies

For current PhD and PDRA opportunities see the main York Chemistry Pages.

Applications from suitably qualified and self-motivated PhD/PDRA level co-workers are welcomed. Please contact Andrew directly to discuss any opportunities further (andrew.weller@york.ac.uk).

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