Author Archive

Welcome to Associate Editor Will Medlin

We are delighted to welcome Professor Will Medlin as our newest Associate Editor for Catalysis Science & Technology.

Will Medlin received his Bachelors in chemical engineering from Clemson University in 1996 and his PhD from the University of Delaware in 2001. After conducting postdoctoral research at Sandia National Laboratories, he joined the chemical and biological engineering department at the University of Colorado, where he is currently the Denver Business Challenge Endowed Professor.

His research interests are in the area of heterogeneous catalysis and surface science, with particular emphases on investigations of catalytic chemistry on well-defined surfaces, and on controlling the near-surface environment of heterogeneous catalysts with organic monolayers and thin films.

Welcome to the team Will!

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Top 10 Reviewers for Catalysis Science & Technology

In celebration of Peer Review Week, with the theme of Recognition for Review – we would like to highlight the top 10 reviewers for Catalysis Science & Technology in 2016. They have been selected by the editor for their significant contribution to the journal.

Top 10 reviewers for Catalysis Science & Technology
Dr Pieter Bruijnincx, Utrecht University
Dr Yohsinao Nakagawa, Tohoku University
Professor Ulf Hanefeld, Technische Universiteit Delft
Dr Wei-Lin Dai, Fudan University
Professor Alexander Stepanov, Boreskov Institute of Catalysis
Dr Yasuhiro Shiraishi, Osaka University
Dr Simon Beaumont, Durham University
Dr Ning Yan, National University of Singapore
Dr Bert Weckhuysen, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Group
Dr Jiaquo Yu, Wuhan University of Technology

We would like to say a massive thank you to these reviewers as well as the Catalysis Science & Technology board and all of the community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

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Introducing our new Associate Editor Jinhua Ye

Photograph of Jinhua YeWe welcome Professor Jinhua Ye as a new Associate Editor for Catalysis Science & Technology.

Jinhua Ye received her PhD from the University of Tokyo in 1990, and joined National Research Institute for Metals (former NIMS) in 1991. She is now a Principle Investigator and the Field Coordinator of Nano-Power Field at International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS), and a Professor of Joint Doctoral Program in Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Japan. She is also the appointed director of TU-NIMS Joint Research Center, and Professor of Materials Science at Tianjin University, China.

Her research interests focus on the research and development of novel photocatalytic materials and their applications in the fields of environment remediation and solar to chemical energy conversion.

Of her appointment Professor Jinhua Ye says “I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the community”.

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Catalysis Science & Technology’s latest Impact Factor is 5.287

Catalysis Science & Technology (CS&T) is pleased to announce its latest Impact Factor is 5.287*.

CS&T is dedicated to publishing the highest impact articles across the catalysis science community; with each original research article reporting new catalytic discoveries that are a significant advance on previous reports. It is this niche that the journal wishes to carve out and thus research published in the journal should bring conceptual advances or molecular insights to catalytic processes.

New acceptance criteria from this year mean that CS&T will be bringing you the latest cutting-edge developments across the community and your article will be handled by one of our international team of expert Associate Editors. Read our recent Editorial article for more information about our scope and new standards.

We would like to thank all our authors, readers, reviewers and Editorial & Advisory Board members for their continued support.

*The Impact Factor provides an indication of the average number of citations per paper. Produced annually, Impact Factors are calculated by dividing the number of citations in a year, by the number of citeable articles published in the preceding two years. Data based on 2015 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters).

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FineCat 2016: Towards a unified approach to catalysis

This article was written by Mario Pagliaro

Palermo Bay

Palermo Bay

Inaugurated by a welcome address of Professor Giulio Deganello, founder in the early 1990s of Palermo’s chemistry Institute of Italy’s CNR, the 5th edition of the “FineCat Symposium on heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemicals” was held in Palermo on April 6-7 in the splendid Sala delle Capriate of the Steri Palace, featuring the invited lectures of Valentine Ananikov and Bert Sels.

The presence of delegates from Norway, Russia, Belgium, Switzerland, UK and Italy testified once again to the international nature of this yearly Symposium series inaugurated in 2012 following the Catalysis Science & Technology themed issue1 on the same topic.

Professor Valentine P. Ananikov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, discussed heterogeneous catalysis in the eyes of an organic chemist. His lecture started from insight of Russia’s chemist Balandin who in his last article2 published in 1969 was calling for a single theory of catalysis, capable to anticipate catalytic effects.

With the advent of today’s sophisticated and powerful analytical techniques as well as in light of recent progress in chemical theory, such approach merging molecular, metal, bio, and photo homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis is eventually becoming a reality.

Professor Valentine P. Ananikov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Professor Valentine P. Ananikov, Russian Academy of Sciences, speaking at FineCat 2016

Recent work from Ananikov’s Group, for example, has shown that homogeneous metal-catalysed reactions are in fact due to “cocktail-like” systems,3 namely to participation of different metal species in the catalytic transformation; whereas heterogeneous catalysis often involves formation of a number of active species that possess dynamic properties and interconversions on the surface.4

In his lecture, academician Ananikov also discussed strategies to reducing the cost of metal catalysts, devising leach-proof synthetic strategies and using easily available metals such as nickel,5 the “spirited horse” identified by Sabatier in his seminal 1922 book on catalysis and organic chemistry.6

Professor Bert Sels, Director of the Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, discussed how Sn tetrahedrally incorporated into porous silica frameworks such as zeolites and structured mesoporous silica can be successfully used as heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts.7

A remarkable example is the conversion of carbohydrates into platform and commodity chemicals such as lactic acid or alkyl lactates, building blocks of PLA, where the activity and selectivity of Sn-based materials largely surpasses those of homogeneous Sn catalysts.8 Some of the materials developed by his Group show water-tolerant behaviour and can therefore be used in aqueous conditions.

Professor Bert Sels, Director of the Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Professor Bert Sels, Director of the Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, speaking at FineCat 2016

Another discovery of great practical relevance in the context of the emerging biorefinery, is the simple method to convert wood in one pot and directly into carbohydrate-rich pulp and lignin oil rich in valued phenolics via hydrogenolysis of lignocellulose in methanol over a simple Ru/C catalyst.9 Biomass conversion, he concluded, is an exciting research area with a vast unexplored terrain. New catalysts and new synthetic routes are awaiting to be designed, guided by fundamental knowledge with regard to active sites and insight in the reaction mechanisms.

Jan Schütz, DSM Nutritional Products, Basel, showed how basic ion exchange resins containing quaternary ammonium groups are used at one of the world’s leading fine chemicals company to mediate aldol condensation reactions of various aldehydes and ketones. One example of manufactured  products is timberone, which has a woody, amberlike odor and is valued in the fragrance industry for manufacturing perfumes and cosmetics, obtained from citral and 2-pentanone.10 The anionic resins are ideally used in continuous reaction mode thus likely anticipating similar progress in the fine chemicals industry with solid-supported metal complexes and metal nanoparticles.

Professor Cristina Della Pina, Department of Chemistry, University of Milan, discussed the novel use of nanoferrites as catalysts (and fillers) for polyaniline (PANI) composites preparation. Her team recently reported a new method to produce electrical and magnetic polyaniline/ferrite nanocomposites, whereby the magnetic nanoparticles played the dual role of catalyst and magnetic filler.

Piera Demma Carà, post-doc research assistant at the MicroBioRefinery of the University of Liverpool, presented the one-pot conversion of cellobiose, a model compound for polysaccharides, into sugar alcohols over ruthenium-based bifunctional catalysts. Ru nanoparticles impregnated on Amberlyst 15 are very active and selective towards sorbitol under 40 bar hydrogen in water, affording in 5 h a >80% yield of sorbitol, much higher than the 53% yield obtained using a mixture of the solid acid A15 and Ru/C.

Regaleali villa

Regaleali villa

Ludivine van den Biggelar, PhD student at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, discussed the successful use of silica-supported transaminases in continuous flow to catalyse asymmetric reductive aminations and prepare valued chiral amines; whereas Chiara Pezzotta, a PhD candidate at the same University, presented interesting results concerning different rejuvenation strategies of titania-entrapped heteropolyacid solid catalysts for Friedel-Crafts alkylations.

Dr Francesco Parrino, a post-doc in the “Schiavello-Grillone” research Group of Palermo’s University, highlighted new results obtained in co-operation with Italy’s CNR concerning the one-pot synthesis of vanillic acid from ferulic acid in water. Professor Giuseppe Marcì, from the same Group, discussed the role of the support in the photocatalytic activity of heterogenized Keggin heteropolyacid PW12 in the dehydration of 2-propanol.

Mangesh Ramesh Avhad, PhD student at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, presented the results of glycerol-activated CaO catalysis for biodiesel syntheis from crude Jatropha Curcas oil, in the context of work on second generation biofuels from non edible biomass resources.

The Symposium received excellent press coverage and ended on the evening of April 7 with a social dinner at the Tasca d’Almerita estate. FineCat 6th edition will be held in Sicily on April 5-6, 2017 (http://goo.gl/DXBd8t).

References
1. M. Pagliaro, G. Hutchings, Catal. Sci. Technol. 2011, 1, 1543.
2. A. A. Balandin, Adv. Catal. 1969, 9, 1-210.
3. A. S. Kashin, V. P. Ananikov, J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 11117-11125.
4. V. P. Ananikov, et al. Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 3302-3313.
5. V. P. Ananikov, ACS Catal. 2015, 5, 1964-1971.
6. P. Sabatier, Catalysis in Organic Chemistry, Van Nostrand, New York: 1922.
7. B. F. Sels, et al. ACS Catal. 2015, 5, 928-940.
8. B. F. Sels, et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 10089-10101.
9. B. F. Sels, et al. Energy Environ. Sci. 2015, 8, 1748-1763.
10. J. Schütz, W. Bonrath, Catal. Sci. Technol. 2012, 2, 2037-2038.

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Advisory board member Professor Ian Fairlamb wins prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Prize

A picture of Ian FairlambIan is Professor of Chemistry at the University of York. His research focuses on understanding how organic, carbon-containing compounds cooperate with transition metals. His work enables the development of sustainable and greener chemical reactions and syntheses that can produce valuable pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds of benefit to humankind. The Corday-Morgan Prize recognises the most meritorious contributions to chemistry. He said: “I am delighted to receive this prestigious award.  I’m deeply indebted to the incredible efforts and talents of both past and present research group members.

To read more about Professor Ian Fairlamb and the 2016 Corday-Morgan Prize please click-through to the website.

Related content:

All 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry prize and award winners: http://rsc.li/awards-prizes-2016
Collection of articles published by prize and award winners: http://rsc.li/rscwinners2016-collection

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From January 2013, Catalysis Science & Technology will be available by subscription only

The first 2 Volumes of Catalysis Science & Technology are free to access to all, but from Volume 3 onwards you will need either institutional access or a personal subscription to view all of our content.

 

Is your subscription in place for a smooth transition in the New Year? If not, recommend this journal to your librarian or information specialist.

You don’t want to miss out on great articles such as:

Graphene-based materials for catalysis
Bruno F. Machado and Philippe Serp
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 54-75

Challenge and progress: palladium-catalyzed sp3 C–H activation
Hu Li, Bi-Jie Li and Zhang-Jie Shi
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 191-206

Theoretical study on the leaching of palladium in a CO atmosphere
Chun-Ran Chang, Zhi-Jian Zhao, Klaus Köhler, Alexander Genest, Jun Li and Notker Rösch
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 2238-2248

Metal–organic frameworks as heterogeneous catalysts for oxidation reactions
Amarajothi Dhakshinamoorthy, Mercedes Alvaro and Hermenegildo Garcia
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 856-867

Design of hierarchical zeolite catalysts by desilication
Danny Verboekend and Javier Pérez-Ramírez
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 879-890

Heterogeneous catalysis of the glycerol hydrogenolysis
Yoshinao Nakagawa and Keiichi Tomishige
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 179-190

Conversion of lignocellulose into renewable chemicals by heterogeneous catalysis
Hirokazu Kobayashi, Hidetoshi Ohta and Atsushi Fukuoka
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, 2, 869-883

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New trends in the synthesis of crystalline microporous materials

Microporous materials have a wide range of applications, industrially used as catalysts, molecular sieves and ion-exchangers, zeolites are an important class of microporous material that have generated a huge amount of academic and industrial interest in modern times. With over 200 framework types officially recognized by the Structure Commission of the International Zeolite Association, there is also wide diversity in chemical structure and functionality.

This Hot Perspective by Roberto Millini et al. summarises the latest developments in the field of zeolites, with a focus on areas of innovation such as synthetic procedures, framework composition, hybrid materials and morphologies.

This article is free to download, but only for a limited time…………………… As of January 2013 Catalysis Science & Technology is available by subscription only.

New trends in the synthesis of crystalline microporous materials
Giuseppe Bellussi, Angela Carati, Caterina Rizzo and Roberto Millini
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20510F

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C-H activation: an article collection

One of the simplest and most utilised chemical reactions is the burning of hydrocarbons and while combustion is an excellent way to exploit the energy content of this naturally occurring resource, there is a lot more we can do with the ‘inert’ C-H bond.

C-H activation allows us to convert cheaper hydrocarbon starting materials into more valuable and versatile products; leading to the development of a wide range of reagents and catalysts that activate C-H bonds. To keep you up to date with the latest developments in the field we have created this article collection, where all articles are free to download until 15th December.

Click here for the full list of articles

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Hydroformylation for the higher alkenes

Hydroformylation (or the oxo process) is an important industrial procedure which combines alkenes with carbon monoxide and hydrogen to produce aldehydes, which are easily hydrogenated to alcohols and then plasticizers or detergents. Hydroformylation is used to produce around 9 million tons of aldehyde per year world-wide and is one of the largest industrial applications of homogeneous catalysis.

Alternative approaches for the aqueous–organic biphasic hydroformylation of higher alkenes

Catalyst recycling is highly desirable to reduce costs and was effectively implemented for short chain alkenes with the development of the aqueous biphasic Ruhrchemie/Rhone-Poulenc (RCH/RP) process, however due to mass-transfer limitations the application of this process is constrained to the short chain hydrocarbons. This Hot Perspective by Lorenz Obrecht, Paul C. J. Kamer and Wouter Laan details some of the alternative approaches which have been developed for the aqueous–organic biphasic hydroformylation for higher alkenes.

Alternative approaches for the aqueous–organic biphasic hydroformylation of higher alkenes
Lorenz Obrecht, Paul C. J. Kamer and Wouter Laan
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2013, Advance Article

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