Ligand Controlled Redox Catalysis with Late Transition Metal Complexes

在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，T。弗吉尼亚大学的布伦特冈诺将研究开发新的催化剂，用于将天然气和石油中的化学物质转化为增值产品。化工行业的许多原材料都是来自化石来源（主要是天然气和石油）的碳氢化合物，必须将其化学转化为更高价值的材料。化学工业在这一过程中的能源消耗是巨大的，约占全球能源消耗总量的10%，占全球二氧化碳排放量的5%以上。虽然有机会大幅提高大规模化学过程的能源效率，但实现这一目标也面临着重大的科学挑战。在这个项目中，Gunnoe教授的团队旨在从根本上了解如何进行选择性和节能的催化化学转化，这对于以更环保的方式使用天然气和其他化石资源的目标至关重要。该项目将为Gunnoe教授提供一个基础，与主要的本科院校（PUI）合作，扩大一个项目，以增加来自不同背景的学生对科学家和工程师职业的兴趣，特别是在能源竞技场。在这个项目中，研究生将访问PUI，根据他们的研究提供短期课程，本科生将参加Gunnoe教授实验室的夏季研究实习。在化学系化学催化项目的支持下，T。弗吉尼亚大学的布伦特冈诺将研究开发新的催化剂，用于将天然气和石油中的化学物质转化为更高价值的产品。该项目将侧重于开发基于Co、Rh、Ir和Pt的新型催化剂，用于碳氢化合物（芳烃、烷烃和烯烃）的功能化。一个关键的目标将是推进配体设计的基本理解，以控制实现有效的C-H官能化所必需的氧化还原化学，特别是在氧化条件下，如酸性介质。这个广泛的目标是通过两个主要目标来实现的：（i）理解“封端芳烃”配体对氧化还原反应的影响，包括使用Co、Rh和Ir络合物的催化烃氧化。Gunnoe小组将量化封端芳烃配体结构（包括芳烃官能度和“封端芳烃”基团相对于过渡金属和芳烃取代基的定位）如何影响应用于催化烯烃氢化、烯烃氧化和烃C-H活化和官能化的基于金属的氧化还原转化;和（ii）了解新的Z型配体对氧化还原反应的影响，包括催化C-H活化和官能化，使用Rh，Ir和Pt络合物。Gunnoe基团将决定Sb基团控制过渡金属电子结构、往返于过渡金属的反应性基团以及与过渡金属一起直接活化烃底物的能力。这些研究将应用于催化烃C-H官能化。这些努力的目标结果是获得对配体设计的更好理解，以优化C-H活化速率，特别是在氧化条件下，如在酸性介质中，开发用于金属配位烯烃的氧化官能化的新策略和方法，并获得用于C-H官能化的新催化剂，包括使用空气的烃的部分氧化，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估支持影响审查标准。

With support from the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor T. Brent Gunnoe of the University of Virginia will study the development of new catalysts for the conversion of chemicals derived from natural gas and petroleum into value-added products. Many starting materials for the chemical industry are hydrocarbons derived from fossil sources (primarily natural gas and petroleum), which must be chemically converted into higher value materials. The chemical industry's energy consumption for this process is substantial and accounts for approximately 10% of total global energy use and greater than 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. While there are opportunities to dramatically increase the energy efficiency of large-scale chemical processes, there are also substantial scientific challenges to realizing this goal. In this project, Professor Gunnoe's group aims to develop a fundamentally new understanding of how to perform selective and energy-efficient catalytic chemical transformations that are essential to the goal of using natural gas and other fossil resources in a more environmentally benign manner. The project will provide a foundation for Professor Gunnoe to work with primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) to expand a program to increase interest among students from diverse backgrounds in careers as scientists and engineers, especially in the energy arena. In this program, graduate students will visit PUIs to deliver short courses based on their research, and undergraduate students will participate in summer research internships in Professor Gunnoe's laboratory. With support from the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor T. Brent Gunnoe of the University of Virginia will study the development of new catalysts for the conversion of chemicals derived from natural gas and oil into higher value products. The project will focus on the development of new catalysts, based on Co, Rh, Ir and Pt for the functionalization of hydrocarbons (arenes, alkanes and olefins). A key goal will be to advance a fundamental understanding of ligand design to control redox chemistry necessary to achieve efficient C–H functionalization, especially under oxidizing conditions such as acidic media. This broad goal is to be achieved through two primary objectives: (i) to understand the impact of "capping arene" ligands on redox reactions, including catalytic hydrocarbon oxidation, using Co, Rh and Ir complexes. The Gunnoe group will quantify how the capping arene ligand structure, including arene functionality and positioning of "capping arene" group relative to the transition metal and arene substituents, impacts metal-based redox transformations as applied to catalytic olefin hydrogenation, olefin oxidation, and hydrocarbon C–H activation and functionalization; and (ii) to understand the effect of new Z-type ligands on redox reactions, including catalytic C–H activation and functionalization, using Rh, Ir and Pt complexes. The Gunnoe group will determine the ability of the Sb group to control transition metal electronic structure, shuttle reactive groups to/from the transition metal, and to directly activate hydrocarbon substrates in concert with the transition metal. These studies will be applied to catalytic hydrocarbon C–H functionalization. The targeted outcome of these efforts is to gain an improved understanding of ligand design to optimize rates of C–H activation, especially under oxidizing conditions such as in acidic media, to develop new strategies and processes for the oxidative functionalization of metal-coordinated olefins, and to access new catalysts for C–H functionalization, including partial oxidation of hydrocarbons using air-recyclable oxidants.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.