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

通过这个奖项，化学系的化学催化项目资助了加州大学洛杉矶分校的Louis Bouchard教授，他正在研究由金属有机框架（MOFs）催化的反应中分子运输和反应选择性之间的相互作用。MOF是由金属原子和有机分子以修补玩具般的方式构建而成的三维结构，化学工业对其结构很感兴趣，因为它们的结构很容易改变。目前已经开发出了几种mof作为催化剂，但对于mof在工业上用于进行反应的催化反应器中的行为知之甚少。催化的研究带来了许多新的日常产品，降低了生产成本，增加了世界范围内的可及性，所有这些都是社会所期望的结果。更好和更高效的催化，以及优化方法，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巧，Bouchard教授正在与当地一所高中合作，接待这些学生在实验室进行研究体验。布沙尔教授正在从一个独特的角度研究催化反应：通过绘制在活反应器内发生的流动和传输过程，并将它们与反应结果联系起来。热力学通量使我们能够理解微孔材料中与催化结果相关的输运过程，从而优化反应参数和催化剂。目前正在研究两种反应：环氧化反应和寡聚反应。环氧化对化学工业很重要，在化学工业中，环氧化物被用作合成聚碳酸酯的起始原料。低聚反应对石油工业来说是很重要的，一个重要的挑战是如何最大限度地提高反应产物的选择性。布沙尔教授的研究小组发现，有证据表明，该框架的传输和拓扑结构强烈地影响了这种反应的结果，其中的细节尚不清楚。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，微孔催化框架被优化为框架拓扑、尺寸和活性中心的功能，目标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.