New Transition Metal Catalysts for Transfer Dehydrogenation Reactions with Oxygen: Efficient Alkene Synthesis from Alkanes

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The Division of Chemistry supports Thomas Lyons of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an American Competitiveness in Chemistry Fellow. Dr. Lyons will develop new transition metal-containing catalysts for transfer dehydrogenation of alkanes, using molecular oxygen as a hydrogen acceptor. He will collaborate with scientists at Eastman Chemical to develop the methodology in a process-chemistry environment. For his plan for broadening participation, the PI will work with colleagues at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and LearnNC to develop high-school curriculum materials that illustrate the role of catalysts in chemistry. Many of the students served in this project will come from economically disadvantaged communities.Research like that of Dr. Lyons is aimed at developing better routes for the synthesis of pure chemical compounds. These chemicals are ultimately used in consumer products as well as in pharmaceuticals. The particular methods that Dr. Lyon is developing are "green" in that they use environmentally benign reagents (oxygen) and produce relatively benign waste (water). In addition, the processes developed should use significantly less energy than current high-temperature methods used in industry today. The hope is to develop more sustainable ways to produce the chemical compounds that modern society depends upon. The efforts at broadening participation being pursued by Dr. Lyon are aimed at giving economically disadvantaged students in North Carolina (and beyond) exposure to real-world examples of important chemical phenomena with the goal of increasing the participation of talented students from these groups in the technological workforce.