Therefore, it is essential for environmental and economic sustenance that clean chemical reagents are employed. Metal catalysts, which speed chemical reactions that are otherwise too slow to be industrially useful, offer a mechanism in which chemical waste can be reduced in the future. This proposal describes a research program in which new metal catalysts are prepared and evaluated for catalyzing important oxidations with sulfoxides and hydrogen peroxide, which are clean and environmentally friendly oxidants. The only byproduct of hydrogen peroxide is water. Recently high levels of perchlorates and chlorates have been detected in ground waters in California and many other western states.
Perchlorate targets the thyroid and is highly toxic.
Due to high solubility and low reactivity, the perchlorate and chlorate ions pose serious challenges for remediation. The toxic effects of a number of ubiquitous environmental pollutants are mediated by binding and activating the aromatic hydrocarbon receptor signalling system, which regulates the expression of a large number of genes related to metabolism of these compounds and their relatives. We will undertake determining the atomic structure of toxic compounds bound to this receptor, using X-ray crystallography. They may also be utilized to assess the toxicity and pharmacology of both evaluated and unevaluated compounds, and potentially design ameliorating treatments or prophylaxis for toxic exposures. Although existing technologies are adequate to remove the bulk of the heavy metal contamination, they fail to meet the low concentration limits required by regulatory standard.