October 2012 – Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Archive for October, 2012

FineCat 2013 – Symposium on heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemicals

22 Oct 2012

Following the success of the 2012 edition, the 2013 FineCat Symposium will be held on April 2013 in the splendid conference venue of the Steri Palace, hall of Palermo’s University Rectorate. The meeting aims to provide an opportunity for contact between academic and industrial researchers, manufacturers and users of solid catalysts for the efficient and selective production of fine chemicals.

The following eminent scientists have confirmed their Symposium attendance as plenary lecturers in 2013:

Claudio Bianchini (CNR, Italy): Electrochemical Valorisation of Alcohols
D. Tyler McQuade (Florida State University): A Flow Chemistry Approach to Catalysis

Call for Papers and Abstract Submission
A call for Oral and Poster presentation is now open within one of the 2013 Symposium themes:

Green catalytic processes
Organo- and biocatalysis
Selective photocatalysis for organic chemistry
Asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis
Atom economy and clean technology
Green reaction media
Heterogeneous catalysis under flow conditions

For more details about the symposium, including how to submit your abstract and register to attend FineCat 2013, visit the website.

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Making the most of zeolites with graphite oxide

22 Oct 2012

Alexander Todd and Christopher Bielawski from the University of Texas, at Austin have combined zeolites with graphite oxide to enhance their catalytic activities when dehydrating alcohols.

Although both catalysts can be used independently, the team observed a synergistic activity when the catalysts were used in tandem.

Protic zeolites (where H⁺ is the counter cation) are usually prepared by either ion exchange or high temperature calcination of an ammonium ion exchanged precursor, although ion exchange is not really viable for zeolites with low silica content (such as NaY zeolites). However, Bielawski found that NaY zeolites could be used without either preparation step due to a little help from graphite oxide.

The researchers propose that H⁺ is released from the graphite oxide upon its dispersion in solvent which exchanges with the Na⁺ ion in the zeolites to produce the protic form. The graphite oxide–zeolite duo was found to catalyse the dehydration of secondary, tertiary and primary aliphatic alcohols to the corresponding olefinic products with very favourable conversions.

Download the Catalysis Science & Technology article now for more details…

Graphite oxide activated zeolite NaY: applications in alcohol dehydration
Alexander D. Todd and Christopher W. Bielawski

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RSC poster prizes awarded at Carbohydrate COST Meeting 2012

12 Oct 2012

Congratulations to Dirk Heyl (Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry), Richard Blackburn (Chemical Science) and Hilde van Hattum (Catalysis Science & Technology) who were the winners of the RSC poster prizes at the RSC Carbohydrate COST Meeting held at University of Birmingham on September 27^th-28^th:

Congratulations also go to Myriam Bergmann for winning the Buchanan Memorial Prize for best student talk, and to Professor David Bundle for being awarded the Haworth Medal.

Thank you to Professor Nigel Simpkins & Professor Rob Field for presenting the prizes, and to all those who participated for making this a success.

View more photos of the winners here

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Submissions open for Photocatalysis themed issue

11 Oct 2012

Submissions are now open for Catalysis Science & Technology‘s upcoming themed issue on photocatalysis.

The themed issue, guest edited by Professors Kazunari Domen and Licheng Sun, will focus on both homogeneous and heterogeneous photocatalysis research, providing insight into the fundamentals as well as the applicational development of photocatalytic reactions.

Manuscript deadline: 7^th January 2013

See our author guidelines, for information on article types. Please note that all manuscripts will undergo the usual standard of peer-review.

SUBMIT your manuscript now.
For any queries, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Cheaper component for greenhouse gas reduction catalyst

10 Oct 2012

Scientists from China have replaced the tungsten oxide in a widely used greenhouse gas reduction catalyst with iron oxide, which improves the selectivity and reduces the cost of the catalyst.

Produced at any combustion site, nitrogen oxides (a mixture of NO and NO₂) – common greenhouse gases – are found anywhere from industrial sites to car exhausts and are regulated by a number of international agencies. As such, several catalytic reactions can be used to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides produced. One of the most common is selective catalytic reduction (SCR), which converts nitrogen oxides into N₂ and H₂O using a reducing agent, commonly ammonia, and a catalyst.

Catalytic reactions are used to reduce nitrogen oxides (a mixture of NO and NO2 – common greenhouse gases) on industrial sites

To read the full article visit Chemistry World.

Substitution of WO₃ in V₂O₅/WO₃–TiO₂ by Fe₂O₃ for selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH₃
Shijian Yang, Chizhong Wang, Lei Ma, Yue Peng, Zan Qu, Naiqiang Yan, Jinghuan Chen, Huazhen Chang and Junhua Li
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2CY20383A

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Frontiers of Organometallic Chemistry (FOC-2012)

10 Oct 2012

Last month ‘Frontiers of Organometallic Chemistry’ was held in Saint Petersburg and saw researchers from around the world come together to talk about the latest developments in organometallic chemistry. Nobel laureate Professor Ei-ichi Negishi opened the conference with his talk ‘ZACA Reaction (Zr-Catalyzed Asymmetric Carboalumination of Alkenes) as an Emerging Tool for Asymmetric Synthesis of Feebly Chiral Compounds of High (>99%) Enantiomeric Purity’. The symposium continued with top quality talks by researchers from around the world, more details of the conference speakers can be found here.

Professor Vadim Yu Kukushkin, Saint-Petersburg State University, discussing the posters

The prize winners with Professor Kukushkin after the award ceremony

: G.A. Silantyev receiving a copy of ‘Organometallic Chemistry’ and a certificate, winning first prize

Catalysis Science & Tehcnology was very pleased to sponsor the poster prizes for this great international event, congratulations to the winners:

1^st Prize: G.A. Silantyev “Structural peculiarities of dibenzobarrelene-based PCP pincer iridium complexes”

2^nd Prize: W. Harnying “Zwitterionic-type molten salt: an efficient mild organocatalyst for synthesis of 2-aryl-5-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1h-3-pyrazolones by a four- component sequential reaction in water”

3^rd Prize: N.A. Bumagin “A highly active heterogeneous palladium catalysts supported on silica-carbon nanotubes hybrids”

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Biocatalysis: an article collection

05 Oct 2012

Beers, wines and cheeses are enjoyed around the world today and have been for millennia. In fact the practices of brewing and cheese-making pre-date recorded history so it is difficult to accurately determine when we first started using naturally occurring enzymes and microorganisms to create valuable (and in this case, tastier!) products.

Biocatalysts are of course used in far more diverse applications than the creation of food-stuffs, including in many organic syntheses and in the generation of fine chemicals. Due to their natural design, they can offer superior selectivity for particular products and have a far lower environmental impact than many traditional catalysts. Our knowledge and understanding of biocatalysts has increased dramatically in the last few decades, which has allowed us to develop biologically modified and biomimetic catalysts for a range of applications.

To keep you up to date with the latest advances in this rapidly expanding field we have collected together these high impact articles and made them free to access until the 31^st October!

Click here for the full list of free articles

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Sequential synthesis to integrate catalysts – no need to purify

04 Oct 2012

Scientists from Spain have developed a new method for increasing yields in synthetic organic reactions.

One pot syntheses may seem like an attractive option for syntheses with multiple reaction steps but reagents are not always compatible, leading to serious reductions in yields. An alternative sequential approach has been adopted that allows several different heterogeneous catalysts to be used, producing the target compound in much higher yields than the classical approach. Three reactions are conducted in sequence by simply filtering the catalyst after each step and proceeding with the crude mixture.

Sound like a good idea? Read the article for more information…

Integration of Heterogeneous Catalysts into Complex Synthetic Routes: Sequential vs One-Pot Reactions in a (Knoevenagel + Mukaiyama-Michael + Hydrogenation + Transesterification) Sequence
J M Fraile et al, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2cy20442h

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Shedding light on photosynthesis reactions

04 Oct 2012

Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer: A Carrefour of Chemical Reactivity

It has been 100 years, almost to the day, since Italian Chemist Giacomo Luigi Ciamician first proposed harnessing the sun’s power to produce energy. Writing in Science, Ciamician stated “And if in a distant future the supply of coal becomes completely exhausted, civilization will not be checked by that, for life and civilization will continue as long as the sun shines!”. With these words in mind, we have selected Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer: A Carrefour of Chemical Reactivity edited by Sebastiao Formosinho and Monica Barroso as the October book of the month.

Amongst other topics, this fascinating book discusses both natural and artificial photosynthesis and highlights the importance of proton-coupled electron transfer in biological systems, in particularly for bioenergetic conversion.

“The book gives a good insight into current research on a vibrant topic. It is to be expected that it will be the first in a long upcoming list of publications, given the importance of PCET processes such as the activation of water, production of H₂, reduction of CO₂, and reduction of N₂.” Reviewed in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Using personal accounts of experimental examples this book will provide a unique insight into the current understanding of this important reaction type.

Let the sun shine on your reactions.

Interested in other books on catalysis? Read more in the RSC Catalysis Series.

You may also be interested in the latest themed issue of Energy & Environmental Science on ‘Proton-coupled electron transfer’ .

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Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

Archive for October, 2012

Top ten most accessed articles in September

FineCat 2013 – Symposium on heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemicals

Making the most of zeolites with graphite oxide

RSC poster prizes awarded at Carbohydrate COST Meeting 2012

Submissions open for Photocatalysis themed issue

Cheaper component for greenhouse gas reduction catalyst

Frontiers of Organometallic Chemistry (FOC-2012)

Biocatalysis: an article collection

Sequential synthesis to integrate catalysts – no need to purify

Shedding light on photosynthesis reactions

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