Development and application of nickel catalysts for sustainable chemistry

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Chemical manufacturing and related industries are omnipresent in the lives of Canadians. Medicines, clothes, everyday objects, and food all rely on basic chemical processes to convert crude material into these highly valuable basic necessities. Over the last century, organic chemists have developed numerous chemical “tools” to enable these transformations. It is however becoming increasingly clear that alternative “green” chemical processes must be developed to address the environmental challenges facing our planet in the 21st century. ***Research in Prof. Sophie Rousseaux's group involves the development of sustainable alternatives to current reactions employed in the chemical manufacturing industry. With this aim in mind, her group will investigate processes for the conversion of renewable chemical feedstocks into value-added products with minimal waste production. More specifically, her group will develop new nickel catalysts capable of transforming carbon-oxygen bonds found in biomass into carbon-carbon or carbon-nitrogen bonds. These reactions will provide alternative tools to access high-value products relevant to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries as well as to materials science and nanotechnology. Not only will her results lead to important environmental benefits for Canadians, but they also have the potential to provide economic benefits in the form of more affordable medicines, food and everyday commodity items for example.