Organometallic Chemistry, Catalysis and Molecular Materials

该应用的主要重点是通过使用环境友好的“绿色”氧化剂，特别是氧和过氧化氢，开发碳氢化合物选择性氧化的催化剂。该领域最大的挑战是开发一种甲烷选择性氧化制甲醇的催化剂。甲烷是一种可以通过管道输送的气体，在发电或供暖方面非常有用，但不容易用于为移动车辆提供动力。甲醇是一种更适合这一目的的液体，它也是合成其他化学品的更有价值的原料，因此在这个企业中取得成功的动力很大。其他烷烃和芳烃的选择性绿色氧化在减少污染的同时，对经济也有很大的好处。当然，这是一个困难的问题，有一个激烈的，全球性的研究努力来解决它。我们的方法是研究铂和钯化合物潜在催化作用中的单个步骤。最重要的步骤是烷烃或芳烃的碳氢键活化，氧化剂的氧-氧键活化，以及氧化烃的还原消除。挑战在于了解影响每个反应步骤的因素，并找到一种促进所有这些步骤的催化剂。我们将利用我们在有机金属化学合成、反应性和机理方面的专业知识推动这一领域的发展。

The main focus of this application is on development of catalysts for the selective oxidation of hydrocarbons by using environmentally friendly “green” oxidants, notably oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The greatest challenge in this field is to develop a catalyst for selective oxidation of methane to methanol. Methane is a gas which can be transported by pipeline and is very useful for power generation or heating, but it is not easily used to power mobile vehicles. Methanol is a liquid which is much better suited to this purpose, and it is also a more valuable feedstock for synthesis of other chemicals, so there is a great incentive to succeed in this enterprise. Selective green oxidation of other alkanes and arenes would also be of great benefit to the economy, while reducing pollution. Naturally, this is a difficult problem and there is an intense, global research effort to solve it. Our approach is to study individual steps in the potential catalysis by platinum and palladium compounds. The most important steps are carbon-hydrogen bond activation of the alkane or arene, oxygen-oxygen bond activation of the oxidant, and reductive elimination of the oxidized hydrocarbon. The challenge is to understand what affects the ease of each reaction step, and to find a catalyst which facilitates all of them. We will use our expertise in synthesis, reactivity and mechanism in organometallic chemistry to push this field forward.