Spatially resolved studies of transport and selectivity of chemically reacting flows in topologically distinct microporous frameworks

该奖项由化学系化学催化计划资助，加州大学洛杉矶分校的Louis Bouchard教授正在研究金属有机骨架(MOF)催化反应中分子传输和反应选择性之间的相互作用。MOF是以修补玩具的方式由金属原子和有机分子构建的三维结构，由于它们的结构可以很容易地变化，因此引起了化学工业的兴趣。已经开发了几种MOF作为催化剂，但对MOF在催化反应器中的行为知之甚少，催化反应器在工业中用于进行反应。催化研究带来了许多新的日常产品，降低了生产成本，增加了全球范围内的可及性，所有这些都是社会所希望的结果。更好和更高效的催化，加上优化方法，最终将导致更清洁的环境，更低的生产成本，并增加消费者的可及性。该项目还整合了研究、培训和教育。参与该研究项目的研究生和本科生正在学习重要的研究和沟通技能，Bouchard教授正在与当地一所高中合作，在实验室接待这些学生进行研究体验。Bouchard教授正在从一个独特的角度研究催化反应：通过绘制发生在活性反应器内的流动和传输过程，并将它们与反应结果相关联。热力学通量有助于了解与催化结果相关的微孔材料中的传输过程，从而能够优化反应参数和催化剂。目前正在研究两种反应：环氧化反应和齐聚反应。环氧化反应在化学工业中很重要，在化学工业中，环氧化物是合成聚碳酸酯的原料。齐聚反应对石油工业很重要，一个重要的挑战是最大限度地提高反应的选择性(S)。布沙尔教授的团队发现证据表明，骨架的运输和拓扑结构强烈影响这种反应的结果，其细节仍不清楚。因此，需要对现场反应环境中的反应有一个基本的了解。在这个项目中，微孔催化骨架随着骨架拓扑结构、大小和活性中心的变化而进行优化，目的是确定工业上可行的MOF催化剂。

With this award, the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Division of Chemistry is funding Professor Louis Bouchard at the University of California, Los Angeles is studying the interplay between molecular transport and reaction selectivity in reactions catalyzed by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOF's are three-dimensional structures built, in a tinker toy-like manner, from metal atoms and organic molecules and are of interest to the chemical industry due to the fact that their structure can be easily varied. Several MOFs have been developed as catalysts, but very little is known about the behavior of MOFs inside catalytic reactors, which are used in the industry to carry out reactions. Research in catalysis leads to many new everyday products, lower production costs and increased accessibility worldwide, all of which are desirable outcomes to society. Better and more efficient catalysis, along with the optimization methods will ultimately lead to a cleaner environment, lower production costs and increased accessibility to the consumer. The project is also integrating research, training and education. Graduate and undergraduate students participating in the research project are learning important research and communication skills, and Professor Bouchard is partnering with a local high school to host these students for research experiences in the laboratory.Professor Bouchard is investigating catalytic reactions from a unique angle: by mapping flow and transport processes occurring inside live reactors and correlating them with the outcomes of the reaction. Thermodynamic fluxes yield an understanding of transport processes in microporous materials, in relation to the catalytic outcome, enabling optimization of reaction parameters and catalyst. Two kinds of reactions are being studied: epoxidations and oligomerizations. Epoxidations are important to the chemical industry, in which epoxides are used as starting materials for the synthesis of polycarbonates. Oligomerizations are important to the petroleum industry, and an important challenge is to maximize selectivity with respect to selected product(s) of the reaction. Professor Bouchard's group found evidence that transport and topology of the framework strongly influence the outcome of such reactions, the details of which are still unclear. A fundamental understanding of the reaction in live reaction settings is therefore needed. In this project microporous catalytic frameworks are being optimized as function of framework topology, size and active centers, with the goal of identifying industrially viable MOF catalysts.