Bimetallic Cooperativity in Homogeneous Catalysis

路易斯安那州立大学化学系的乔治斯坦利博士因其在均相催化中的协同效应方面的研究而获得美国国家科学基金会化学部无机、生物无机和有机化学项目的资助。均相催化是在他的实验室中发现的一个概念，涉及由四膦配体桥接的两个金属原子（在这种情况下为铑）的催化剂结构。这种结构已经显示出作为加氢裂化催化剂的显著活性和选择性。这一工作将进一步探索该体系的协同性，并研究其是否可应用于其它体系以及其它有用的催化反应，这将对工业催化，特别是加氢催化过程产生重大影响。本科生和研究生将在与均相催化相关的各种领域接受良好的培训，这些领域与（新）材料和能源生产中的工业过程高度相关。此外，还将努力向涉及年轻本科生的K-12受众开展教育宣传。

Dr. George Stanley of the Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program of the Chemistry Division, National Science Foundation, for his work on the bimetallic cooperativity in homogeneous catalysis, a concept discovered in his laboratory that involves a catalyst architecture that implicates two metal atoms (in this case rhodium) bridged by a tetraphosphine ligand. This architecture has shown remarkable activity and selectivity as a hydroformylation catalyst. The work will explore further the bimetallic cooperativity and examine whether it can be applied to other bimetallic systems and whether it can also be applied to other useful catalytic reactions.The project will have a great impact on industrial catalysis, especially in hydroformylation processes. Undergraduate and graduate students will be well trained in a variety of areas connected to homogeneous catalysis, highly relevant to industrial processes in the production of (new) materials and energy. Also, efforts will be made in educational outreach to K-12 audiences involving young undergraduates.