Creating Heterogeneous Organic Amines for Glucose Isomerization to Fructose

该项目旨在设计多相催化剂，将生物质转化为化学品和燃料。研究人员将研究与催化剂稳定性、活性和产物选择性有关的催化剂结构和性能方面的问题。该项目将通过改进用生物可再生原料而不是化石原料生产燃料和化学品的催化剂的设计，支持向清洁能源经济的过渡。该项目将包括教育外展部分，旨在提高妇女和代表性不足的学生在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的参与度。具体来说，该项目将研究在非均相二氧化硅载体上固定化氨基硅烷的合成-结构-反应性，以实现葡萄糖到果糖的异构化。一系列含有不同氨基硅烷设计的非均相催化剂将被测试，以确定如何修改氨基硅烷的结构以增加催化剂的稳定性。确定稳定的氨基硅烷结构将对所有液相化学的催化材料具有广泛的意义。此外，该工作将研究如何通过改变反应条件，包括葡萄糖的浓度来提高反应选择性。复杂的反应混合物将使用先进的质谱技术进行分析，以确定葡萄糖浓度如何影响物质的形成。最后，利用核磁共振（NMR）和傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）等光谱技术研究胺-硅醇相互作用。这些胺-硅醇相互作用与氨基二氧化硅材料活性的降低有关。光谱学将提供关于氨基硅烷结构如何影响胺-硅醇相互作用的见解。该项目的影响可能是巨大的，因为它有可能为水相反应提供制造非均相催化剂的新方法。该项目涉及一个多元化的学生团队，他们将接受高级催化材料合成、表征和测试方面的培训。更广泛地说，该项目将通过与俄亥俄州立大学现有的几个项目相结合，扩大代表性不足群体对STEM项目的参与，向小学生展示一个课堂模块，以激励后代在STEM相关领域接受教育。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project targets the design of heterogeneous catalysts for the conversion of biomass to chemicals and fuels. The researchers will study catalyst structure and performance aspects related to catalyst stability, activity, and product selectivity. The project will support transition to a clean-energy economy by improving the design of catalysts for manufacturing fuels and chemicals from bio-renewable feedstocks rather than fossil sources. The project will involve an educational outreach component that will seek to increase participation of women and underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.Specifically, the project will investigate the synthesis-structure-reactivity of aminosilanes immobilized on heterogeneous silica supports for the isomerization of glucose to fructose. A series of heterogeneous catalysts containing different aminosilane designs will be tested to determine how the structure of the aminosilane can be modified to increase catalyst stability. Identifying a stable aminosilane structure will have broad implications for catalytic materials for all liquid-phase chemistry. Further, the work will examine how the reaction selectivity can be increased through modifying the reaction conditions, including the concentration of glucose. The complex reaction mixtures will be analyzed using advanced mass spectrometry techniques to determine how glucose concentration impacts the species formed. Finally, spectroscopy techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) will be used to investigate amine-silanol interactions. These amine-silanol interactions have been implicated in reducing the activity of aminosilica materials. The spectroscopy will provide insights on how the structure of the aminosilane impacts amine-silanol interactions. The impact of the project can be substantial since it has the potential to provide new methods to create heterogeneous catalysts for aqueous phase reactions. The project involves a diverse team of students that will be trained in advanced catalytic material synthesis, characterization, and testing. More broadly, the project will broaden participation from underrepresented groups in STEM programs through interfacing with several existing programs at Ohio State University to demonstrate a classroom module to elementary school children to inspire future generations to pursue education in STEM-related fields.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.