August 2012 – Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Archive for August, 2012

Organometallics in catalysis: an article collection

29 Aug 2012

Perhaps the most well-known applications of organometallics in catalysis are the Ziegler–Natta catalysts which are used to generate polymers, the catalysts are made up of mixtures of transition metal halides and organo-aluminium complexes. Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta were awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery and development of the catalysts, which today are the most commonly used for the manufacture of polythene.

The esteemed history of organometallics are not to be under-estimated and include Grignard’s reagents, the Heck reaction, Schrock catalysts, Grubbs’ catalysts and the Suzuki Coupling to name just a few. Organometallic compounds have revolutionised science and industry and to keep you up to date with the latest break-through research being made across all areas of organometallics in catalysis, we have made this cross-journal article collection free until the 26^th September.

Click here for the full list of free articles

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Ring opening of biomass-derived furan rings

14 Aug 2012

Fuel conversion from biomass to liquid hydrocarbons is a fast moving area of research and presents an opportunity to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and move towards a more carbon neutral fuel economy. For use in transportation there are currently a range of strategies being considered to create liquid fuel from different biomass feedstocks (see Catalytic routes for the conversion of biomass into liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels).

John C. Gordon, L. A. ‘‘Pete’’ Silks and colleagues have recently investigated a method of opening biomass-derived furan rings, under mild conditions, using homogeneous Bronsted acid catalysis.

The products observed during acid catalyzed ring opening of furan containing biomass-derived substrates are strongly influenced by furan substituents.

When generating fuel from non-food biomass there are many chemical hurdles to overcome, including the breakdown of lignocellulose and subsequent deoxygenation and hydrogenation of the resulting products. Gasification followed by Fischer–Tropsch reaction is a promising route to biomass conversion, but requires high temperatures and initial oxidation of the biomass.

An important challenge is the opening of ring structures.

While cellulose based biofuel precursors can be hydrolyzed under mild conditions, subsequent dehydration of these sugars leads to the generation of furans and aldehydes. In their Hot Article John C. Gordon et al. have investigated experimentally and theoretically the ring opening mechanism of furans on molecules derived from biomass, using acid catalysis <100^oC. This important study gives insight into the ring opening process which is necessary to create linear alkane chains for use as liquid fuels.

Download their article for free to find out more

Functional group dependence of the acid catalyzed ring opening of biomass derived furan rings: an experimental and theoretical study
Christopher R. Waidmann, Aaron W. Pierpont, Enrique R. Batista, John C. Gordon, Richard L. Martin, L. A. “Pete” Silks, Ryan M. West and Ruilian Wu
DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20395B

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Green route to efficient, reusable hydrogenation catalysts

08 Aug 2012

Solid supported nanoparticle catalysts could offer huge benefits for synthetic reactions in industry – both economically and environmentally. However, their difficult syntheses and stability problems mean that their practical employment is often far from acceptable on an industrial scale.

Italian researchers may have found the solution by using a simple procedure to embed palladium nanoparticles within commercially available ion exchange resins. The hydrogenation catalyst is cheap, green, easy to handle, minimises waste production and is easily recycled.

Nanoparticle catalyst

To find out more, download the article here

In-situ generation of resin-supported Pd nanoparticles under mild catalytic conditions: a green route to highly efficient, reusable hydrogenation catalysts
Carmen Moreno Marrodan, Debora Berti, Francesca Liguori and Pierluigi Barbaro
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20205K

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Steering aldoximes to primary or secondary amines

08 Aug 2012

Thomas Müller and colleagues have investigated the mechanism by which oximes are hydrogenated, usually giving a mixture of both primary and secondary amine products. Since primary amine functionality is desireable for many fine chemicals, it would be ideal to find a way to selectively generate primary amines in preference to their secondary relatives.

They disovered that the reaction proceeds via a pool of Schiff base and nitrile intermediates which can be directed towards primary or secondary amines depending on the choice of catalyst – first-row transition metal catalysts such as nickel encourage primary amine formation, whilst noble metal catalysts (Pd, Rh) encourage secondary amine formation.

To read about the reaction mechanism in detail, download the Catalysis Science & Technology article now…

Controlling Selectivity in the Reaction Network of Aldoxime Hydrogenation to Primary Amines
Ewa Gebauer-Henke, Walter Leitner, Angelina Prokofieva, Henning Vogt and Thomas Ernst Mueller

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Top ten most accessed articles in June

08 Aug 2012

This month sees the following articles in Catalysis Science & Technology that are in the top ten most accessed:-

[Ru(bpy)3]2+ aided photocatalytic synthesis of 2-arylpyridines via Hantzsch reaction under visible irradiation and oxygen atmosphere
Rajakumar Ananthakrishnan and Sarifuddin Gazi
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1463-1471 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20050C

Conversion of lignocellulose into renewable chemicals by heterogeneous catalysis
Hirokazu Kobayashi , Hidetoshi Ohta and Atsushi Fukuoka
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 869-883 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY00500J

Role of mixed metal oxides in catalysis science – A versatile applications in organic synthesis
Manoj B. Gawande , Rajesh K. Pandey and Radha V. Jayaram
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1113-1125 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY00490A

Hierarchical TiO2 spherical nanostructures with tunable pore size, pore volume, and specific surface area: facile preparation and high-photocatalytic performance
Baoshun Liu , Kazuya Nakata , Munetoshi Sakai , Hidenori Saito , Tsuyoshi Ochiai , Taketoshi Murakami , Katsuhiko Takagi and Akira Fujishima
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1933-1939 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY00509C

Rational design of heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel synthesis
Karen Wilson and Adam F. Lee
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 884-897 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20038D

Catalytic activity of unsupported gold nanoparticles
Yusuke Mikami , Amarajothi Dhakshinamoorthy , Mercedes Alvaro and Hermenegildo García
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20068F

Latent ruthenium based olefin metathesis catalyst with a sterically demanding NHC ligand
Anita Leitgeb , Mudassar Abbas , Roland C. Fischer , Albert Poater , Luigi Cavallo and Christian Slugovc
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1640-1643 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20311A

A review of controllable synthesis and enhancement of performances of bismuth tungstate visible-light-driven photocatalysts
Liwu Zhang and Yongfa Zhu
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 694-706 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY00411A

Catalytic Enantioselective Alkyl and Aryl Addition to Aldehydes and Ketones with Organozinc Reagents Derived from Alkyl Grignard Reagents or Arylboronic Acids
Manabu Hatano , Riku Gouzu , Tomokazu Mizuno , Hitoshi Abe , Toshihide Yamada and Kazuaki Ishihara
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011,1, 1149-1158 DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00108F

Gold, palladium and gold-palladium supported nanoparticles for the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and urea
Mohd Hasbi Ab Rahim , Qian He , Jose A. Lopez-Sanchez , Ceri Hammond , Nikolaos Dimitratos , Meenakshisundaram Sankar , Albert F. Carley , Christopher J. Kiely , David W. Knight and Graham J. Hutchings
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1914-1924 DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20288C

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting an article to Catalysis Science & Technology? Then why not submit to us today or alternatively email us your suggestions.

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The cream of catalysis – top cited articles of 2011

07 Aug 2012

Looking back over our first year’s worth of articles, we are delighted with the high quality work being published by our authors.

Here are the articles that you are citing the most so far*…

Top cited Reviews

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

Two-dimensional zeolites: dream or reality?
Wieslaw J. Roth and Jiří Čejka
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 43-53

Superparamagnetic nanoparticles for asymmetric catalysis—a perfect match
Kalluri V. S. Ranganath and Frank Glorius
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 13-22

Well-defined copper(I) complexes for Click azide–alkyne cycloaddition reactions: one Click beyond
Silvia Díez-González
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 166-178

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

Chemocatalytic conversion of cellulose: opportunities, advances and pitfalls
Jan A. Geboers, Stijn Van de Vyver, Roselinde Ooms, Beau Op de Beeck, Pierre A. Jacobs and Bert F. Sels
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 714-726

Recent advances in asymmetric catalysis with cinchona alkaloid-based primary amines
Lin Jiang and Ying-Chun Chen
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 354-365

A review of the development of nitrogen-modified carbon-based catalysts for oxygen reduction at USC
Gang Liu, Xuguang Li, Jong-Won Lee and Branko N. Popov
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 207-217

Towards near zero-sulfur liquid fuels: a perspective review
Barbara Pawelec, Rufino M. Navarro, José Miguel Campos-Martin and José L. G. Fierro
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 23-42

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

Top cited articles

Synthesis, characterization and ethylene oligomerization behaviour of 8-(1-aryliminoethylidene)quinaldinylnickel dihalides
Shengju Song, Tianpengfei Xiao, Tongling Liang, Fosong Wang, Carl Redshaw and Wen-Hua Sun
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 69-75

Microwave-assisted synthesis of ZnO–graphene composite for photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI)
Xinjuan Liu, Likun Pan, Tian Lv, Ting Lu, Guang Zhu, Zhuo Sun and Changqing Sun
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 1189-1193

A straightforward zinc-catalysed reduction of sulfoxides to sulfides
Stephan Enthaler
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 104-110

Activity improvement of gold yolk–shell catalysts for CO oxidation by doping with TiO₂
Robert Güttel, Michael Paul and Ferdi Schüth
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 65-68

In situ green synthesis of Au nanostructures on graphene oxide and their application for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol
Yingwei Zhang, Sen Liu, Wenbo Lu, Lei Wang, Jingqi Tian and Xuping Sun
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 1142-1144

SBA-15-Pr–SO₃H as nanoreactor catalyzed oxidation of sulfides into sulfoxides
Kiumars Bahrami, Mohammad M. Khodaei and Peyman Fattahpour
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 389-393

Synthesis and characterization of versatile MgO–ZrO₂ mixed metal oxide nanoparticles and their applications
Manoj B. Gawande, Paula S. Branco, Kalpesh Parghi, Janhavi J. Shrikhande, Rajesh Kumar Pandey, C. A. A. Ghumman, N. Bundaleski, O. M. N. D. Teodoro and Radha V. Jayaram
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 1653-1664

Gold(I)-catalyzed synthesis of furans and pyrroles via alkyne hydration
Pierrick Nun, Stéphanie Dupuy, Sylvain Gaillard, Albert Poater, Luigi Cavallo and Steven P. Nolan
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 58-61

Fabrication of a TiO₂ nanoparticles impregnated titanium mesh filter and its application for environmental purification
Tsuyoshi Ochiai, Toru Hoshi, Houda Slimen, Kazuya Nakata, Taketoshi Murakami, Hiro Tatejima, Yoshihiro Koide, Ammar Houas, Takuji Horie, Yuko Morito and Akira Fujishima
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 1324-1327

2-(1-Aryliminopropylidene)quinolylcobalt(II) dichlorides: synthesis, characterization and catalytic behaviour towards ethylene
Tianpengfei Xiao, Jingjuan Lai, Shu Zhang, Xiang Hao and Wen-Hua Sun
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 462-469

Selective oxidation of biorenewable glycerol with molecular oxygen over Cu-containing layered double hydroxide-based catalysts
Chun-Hui Zhou, Jorge N. Beltramini, Chun-Xiang Lin, Zhi-Ping Xu, G. Q. (Max) Lu and A. Tanksale
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 111-122

Why not have a look at some of our other article collections?

Monthly top-accessed content
Reviews in catalysis
Outstanding organocatalysis
Zeal for zeolites
Incredible ionic liquids

*(Thomson Reuters®)

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Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Archive for August, 2012

Organometallics in catalysis: an article collection

Ring opening of biomass-derived furan rings

Green route to efficient, reusable hydrogenation catalysts

Steering aldoximes to primary or secondary amines

Top ten most accessed articles in June

The cream of catalysis – top cited articles of 2011

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