Transition Metal and Main Group Organometallic Chemistry: Synthesis and Catalysis

化学催化是通过加入一种不在反应中消耗的物质——催化剂——来提高有用反应的速率、选择性和效率的过程。过渡金属基催化剂的作用是为化学键的形成和断裂提供低能途径。对于需要能量才能完成的反应，催化剂也可以从阳光中获取能量来推动反应。将二氧化碳或水（两种高度丰富的小分子）转化为有用的产品或燃料的催化剂的发现是研究的关键，旨在寻找解决当今人类面临的主要环境（二氧化碳利用）和能源（水分解为H2和O2）问题的解决方案。我们的团队积极参与寻找新的催化剂和光收集材料，并探索它们运作的详细分子机制。这一基础知识对于在工业上大规模开发这些反应的催化剂至关重要。该建议侧重于三个主要调查领域：

Chemical catalysis is a process by which useful reactions are improved in rate, selectivity and efficiency by addition of a species that is not consumed in the reaction-the catalyst. Transition metal-based catalysts act by providing low energy pathways for making and breaking chemical bonds. For reactions that require energy to go to completion, catalysts may also harvest energy from sunlight to drive reactions forward. Discovery of catalysts that convert CO2 or H2O (two highly abundant small molecules) into useful products or fuels are at the crux of research aimed at finding solutions to major environmental (CO2 utilization) and energy (splitting of water into H2 and O2) problems that face humanity today. Our group is actively involved in the search for new catalysts and light harvesting materials and probing the detailed molecular mechanisms by which they operate. This fundamental knowledge is critical for the development of catalysts for these reactions on an industrially significant scale. This proposal focuses on three main areas of inquiry: