Patrick Holland

Research Interests

• Inorganic Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Synthetic Chemistry
• Green Chemistry

Research

The Holland group studies compounds containing inexpensive metals like iron and cobalt, with the goal of understanding their reactions in detail and increasing their potential for use in catalysis. We do this by preparing new molecules that are highly reactive. In some cases, the compounds have weak metal-ligand multiple bonds, and in others there are open sites for reactions on the metal. We specialize in compounds where the metal has very few bonds, and have done many detailed studies on this rare and exciting type of compound.

A major part of our research program has focused on nitrogen fixation, which utilizes atmospheric nitrogen as a underutilized resource. Our work has relevance to finding sustainable alternatives to the Haber-Bosch process for fertilizer production, and to understanding the natural enzyme that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. We have also found ways of converting atmospheric nitrogen into organic compounds by combining with hydrocarbons. Other research in our laboratory addresses production of fuel from solar energy, enzymes with carbon dioxide reducing active sites, and catalytic functionalizations of alkenes. We are recognized as leaders in organometallic mechanisms, and Prof. Holland edited the opening volume of Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry IV. 

Our research provides an interdisciplinary training environment that develops students’ skills in synthesis, biological inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, mechanistic techniques, and spectroscopy.

Education

A.B. Princeton University, 1993
Ph.D. University of California at Berkeley, 1997
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, 1997-2000

Honors

NSF CAREER Award, 2002
Sloan Fellowship, 2003
Fulbright Scholar, 2012
Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, 2013
Fellow of the AAAS, 2014
Bessel Award from the Humboldt Foundation, 2016

Recent Publications

S. F. McWilliams, D. L. J. Broere, C. J. V. Halliday, S. M. Bhutto, B. Q. Mercado, P. L. Holland, “Coupling Dinitrogen and Hydrocarbons through Aryl Migration,” Nature 2020, 584, 221-226. Featured in Chem. Eng. News “Year in Chemistry 2020” as one of the “Sensational Syntheses of 2020.”

S. M. Bhutto, R. X. Hooper, B. Q. Mercado, P. L. Holland
Mechanism of Nitrogen-Carbon Bond Formation From Iron(IV) Disilylhydrazido Intermediates During N₂ Reduction
J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2023, 145, 4626-4637.  

C. V. Wilson, P. L. Holland
Mechanism of Alkene Hydrofunctionalization by Oxidative Cobalt(salen) Catalyzed Hydrogen Atom Transfer
J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2024, 146, 2685–2700.  

D. W. N. Wilson, M. S. Fataftah, Z. Mathe, B. Q. Mercado, S. DeBeer, P. L. Holland
Three-Coordinate Nickel and Metal-Metal Interactions in a Heterometallic Iron-Sulfur Cluster
J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2024, 146, 4013–4025.  

A. L. Nagelski, M. S. Fataftah, S. N. MacMillan, K. C. MacLeod, S. F. McWilliams, B. Q. Mercado, K. M. Lancaster, P. L. Holland
Bridging Carbonyl and Carbyne Complexes of Weak-Field Iron: Electronic Structure and Iron-Carbon Bonding
J. Am. Chem. Soc.  2024, 146, in press.