Ziegler-Nanocluster Industrial Catalysts, Part II: Understanding Their Unusual Kinetics, Operando Studies of Key Ir Model and Co Industrial Catalysts, and Enhanced Activity Catalys

美国国家科学基金会化学部的化学催化项目支持科罗拉多州立大学的Richard Finke教授对基于钴和铱元素的ziegler -纳米团簇加氢催化剂进行详细的结构研究。这项工作的目的是了解溶液中催化物种的真实性质，并在简化的工业过程中优化催化剂结构。本研究的一个特别重要的目标是确定为什么这些催化剂体系中金属浓度的降低会导致催化速率的增加。这项研究的实际影响可能是巨大的，因为这些催化剂的主要用户是化学工业，而且将继续是化学工业。它与烯烃聚合等加氢以外的其他重要工业领域高度相关。确定实际的催化剂和控制其行为的因素可能会导致新的齐格勒型催化剂的改进和发明的逻辑途径。就更广泛的影响而言，本研究将使本科生和研究生都接触到重要的工业过程，这在学术纯科学环境中是罕见的。指导和培训学生各种各样的技能，从有机金属合成到光谱学，是这项工作的主要特点。

The Chemical Catalysis Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation supports Professor Richard Finke of Colorado State University, for the detailed structural investigation of Ziegler-nanocluster hydrogenation catalysts based on the elements cobalt and iridium. The goal of this work is to understand the true nature of the catalytic species in solution, and to optimize catalyst structure in a streamlined industrial process. A particularly important goal of this research is to determine why a decrease in metal concentration in these catalyst systems leads to an increase in catalytic rate.The practical impact of this research is potentially enormous, given that the major user of these catalysts is, and continues to be, the chemical industry. It is highly relevant to other areas of industrial importance beyond hydrogenation, such as olefin polymerization. Indentifying the actual catalysts and the factors that control their behavior may lead to logical approaches to the improvement and invention of new Ziegler-type catalysts. In terms of broader impacts, this research will expose both undergraduate and graduate students to important industrial processes, which is a rare occurrence in academic pure science environments. The mentoring and training of students in a wide variety of skills, from organometallic synthesis to spectroscopy, is a major feature of this work.