Jamie Humphrey, Editor – Catalysis Science & Technology Blog

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Celebrating Catalysis in Munich

06 Jul 2012

E-Posters at the ICC in Munich July 2012

E-posters provided an easier way to find one poster amongst the many.

The International Congress on Catalysis is arguably the largest international meeting focussed on catalysis, and, just like the Olympics, takes place every four years. This year, the 15th congress in the series was held in the Bavarian city of Munich, Germany. Munich was a well chosen venue. Not only is the city a excellent centre of research and technology, home to two major universities and a number of academic centres and research institutes, but also it has a vibrant cultural life, from opera to museums to excellent local cuisine and of course, fantastic beer!

Over 2200 delegates attended the meeting, which was exceptionally well organised, even down to the army of ushers who directed delegates to the last few empty seats in the lecture halls. Despite everyone’s best efforts, however, attendance was so good at this conference that not everyone could fit into the lecture hall and overflow lecture hall for the opening ceremony, and those arriving late were turned away.

One characteristic of this meeting was the vast number of posters that were presented. At times it seemed that whereever one turned, there was another poster to be read! It was great to see so many people involved in this way, and to have so many opportunities to learn about people’s research. At this conference I came across something that I have not seen before – some of the posters were not printed on paper or card, but on fabric instead (I suppose posters on fabric are easier to transport to the conference). For those delegates who could not find the poster they were looking for, there were a number of e-poster stations available, where electronic versions of the posters could be searched and displayed.

The conference highlighted the huge impact that catalysis has on our lives, and had 19 sessions covering topics such as: biomass conversion, catalysis via nanotechnology, catalysis for fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and organic transformations, photocatalysis, automobile catalysts, industrial implementation, green synthesis, computational catalysis, use of renewables via catalysis, catalysis in CO₂ capture, fuel cells, biocatalysis and advances in reactor technology.

Six plenaries, by Kazunari Domen, Philippe Sautet, Charles Kresge, Hans-Joachim Freund, Alex Bell and Roy Periana, introduced the sessions, as did a number of keynote lectures. Two awards were also celebrated at the conference, with the International Catalysis Award lecture given by Bert Weckhuysen, and the Heinz Heinemann Award given by Graham Hutchings.

It will be another four years until the 16th International Congress on Catalysis, and just like for the Olympics, it will be worth the wait!

To get a taste of the conference, and the exciting science discussed in Munich, read the Catalysis Science & Technology articles below, a selection of those published by the Plenary and Keynote speakers.

Modification of TaON with ZrO2 to improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity under visible light: influence of preparation conditions on activity
Su Su Khine Ma, Kazuhiko Maeda and Kazunari Domen
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 818-823
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C2CY00499B

Selective oxidation of alkenes using graphite-supported gold-palladium catalysts
Salem Bawaked, Qian He, Nicholas F. Dummer, Albert F. Carley, David W. Knight, Donald Bethell, Christopher J. Kiely and Graham J. Hutchings
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011,1, 747-759
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C1CY00122A

Supramolecularly controlled surface activity of an amphiphilic ligand. Application to aqueous biphasic hydroformylation of higher olefins
Natacha Six, Antonella Guerriero, David Landy, Maurizio Peruzzini, Luca Gonsalvi, Frédéric Hapiot and Eric Monflier
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011,1, 1347-1353
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C1CY00156F

Tuning lipase activity with perfluoro carboxylic acids as additives
Carlos G. Acevedo-Rocha and Manfred T. Reetz
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C2CY20173A

A detailed study of the diastereoselective catalytic hydrogenation of 6-hydroxytetrahydroisoquinoline-(3R)-carboxylic ester intermediates
Laurent Lefort, Natascha Sereinig, Harrie Straatman, David J. Ager, Johannes G. de Vries, John A. Werner, Roger B. Scherer, Todd D. Maloney, Mark D. Argentine, Kevin A. Sullivan and Jared W. Fennell
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012, Advance Article
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C2CY20251D

Acceptorless ruthenium catalyzed dehydrogenation of alcohols to ketones and esters
Saurabh Shahane, Cédric Fischmeister and Christian Bruneau
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 1425-1428
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C2CY20066J

Mechanistic insights in the olefin epoxidation with cyclohexyl hydroperoxide
Bart P. C. Hereijgers, Rudy F. Parton and Bert M. Weckhuysen
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2012,2, 951-960
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C2CY00455K

Model Ag/HOPG catalysts: preparation and STM/XPS study
Demid V. Demidov, Igor P. Prosvirin, Alexei M. Sorokin and Valerii I. Bukhtiyarov
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011,1, 1432-1439
http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=10.1039/C1CY00127B

Did you attend the 15th International Congress on Catalysis? Share your experiences below.

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Professor Javier Pérez-Ramírez appointed as Associate Editor

14 Oct 2011

From November 2011, there will be a new option for submitting your articles for publication in Catalysis Science & Technology.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Javier Pérez-Ramírez, based at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has recently been appointed as a Catalysis Science & Technology Associate Editor, with his Editorial Office opening in November.

Born and raised in Benidorm, Spain, Javier studied chemical engineering at the University of Alicante (1997) and later earned his PhD degree on catalyzed N2O activation with cum laude at the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands (2002). After spending some time in industry (2002-2005), holding several positions at Norsk Hydro and Yara International in Porsgrunn (Norway) where he was responsible of core projects related to catalyst development within fertilizer production, he then moved back to academia and was appointed ICREA research professor at ICIQ in Tarragona, Spain (2005-2009). In January 2010, he took up office as Full Professor at ETH Zurich.

Javier’s research interests lie in the design of nanostructured and hierarchical materials as well as reactor engineering concepts for application in heterogeneous catalysis.

Articles for consideration by Professor Javier Pérez-Ramírez can be submitted here.

Find out more about Javier’s research at his website and check out some of his recent papers below:

Design of hierarchical zeolite catalysts by desilication Danny Verboekend and Javier Pérez-Ramírez,

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 879-890

DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00150G

A delafossite-based copper catalyst for sustainable Cl2 production by HCl oxidation Cecilia Mondelli, Amol P. Amrute, Timm Schmidt and Javier Pérez-Ramírez ,

Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 7173-7175

DOI: 10.1039/C1CC11891A

Surface state during activation and reaction of high-performing multi-metallic alkyne hydrogenation catalysts Blaise Bridier, Javier Pérez-Ramírez, Axel Knop-Gericke, Robert Schlögl and Detre Teschner,

Chem. Sci., 2011, 2, 1379-1383,

DOI: 10.1039/C1SC00069A

Towards more efficient monodimensional zeolite catalysts: n-alkane hydro-isomerisation on hierarchical ZSM-22 Danny Verboekend, Karine Thomas, Maria Milina, Sharon Mitchell, Javier Pérez-Ramírez and Jean-Pierre Gilson

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011,

DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00240F

Molecular understanding of alkyne hydrogenation for the design of selective catalysts Blaise Bridier, Núria López and Javier Pérez-Ramírez,

Dalton Trans., 2010, 39, 8412-8419,

DOI: 10.1039/C0DT00010H

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EuropaCat: Glasgow, 28 August 2011

08 Sep 2011

For a week at the end of August, Glasgow, renowned world-wide for its rich heritage of Victorian architecture, and former European City of Culture, was home to EuropaCat, the biennial conference organised by EFCATS – the European Federation of Catalysis Societies.

Was Glasgow ready for the arrival of 1200 chemists talking about catalysis? Thanks to the hard and efficient work of the local organisers, the answer was a definite yes! The organisers had planned every detail, resulting in a well run and welcoming conference – from the army of conference helpers in their yellow T-shirts to the meal cards charged with a £10 daily allowance which could be used at a number of venues on campus at all times during the day. With this attention to detail, we all felt very well looked after.

Every day began with a plenary in the magnificent Bute Hall, designed by the Victorian architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott, with an interior decoration based on the heraldic colours of the Marquess of Bute, whose financial gift to the university funded its building in the early 1880s. The plenaries, given by recognised leaders in their fields, each provided an authoritative overview, and Minireviews based on two of these have recently been published in Catalysis Science & Technology – if you missed out on attending EuropaCat, why not take a look at these Minireviews to get a flavour of the conference.

Structure sensitivity of the Fischer–Tropsch reaction; molecular kinetics simulations, Rutger A. van Santen, Mohammed Minhaj Ghouri, Sharan Shetty and Emiel M. H. Hensen, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 891-911 DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00118C

Heterogenization of homogeneous catalytic systems, Alana E. C. Collis and István T. Horváth, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 912-919 DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00174D

Issue 6 Catalysis Science & Technology

Between them, the Plenaries illustrated the many advances that have been made in catalysis research in recent years. In addition to some fantastic science, we also were entertained by some molecular movies from Rutger van Santen, and a detailed analysis of the cover illustration of Issue 6, 2011, Catalysis Science & Technology, by Javier Perez-Ramirez (Design of hierarchical zeolite catalysts by desilication, Danny Verboekend and Javier Pérez-Ramírez, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 879-890, DOI: 10.1039/C1CY00150G).

Free copies of this issue were available in the exhibition, and proved to be very popular … and I suspect that a number of people were attracted by its imaginative cover (incidentally, the author, Javier Perez-Ramirez drew the illustration himself!).

The parallel sessions that followed the plenaries were held in a number of lecture theatres throughout the university buildings, which presented the delegates with an opportunity to see more of the university. These sessions covered a broad mix of catalysis topics, including catalyst preparation, characterisation, deactivation and industrial, computational and homogeneous catalysis, and included a number of keynote lectures. The talks were all of a very high standard, and it was great to see students as well as professors speak about their work.

We sponsored the poster session on Tuesday evening, held in the Glasgow University Union, which was very well attended. The posters took over the building for the evening – wherever you went, there seemed to be more posters on display … and this poster session was just one of three held during the conference! This very high level of student participation is very encouraging for the future of catalysis research.

Many thanks are due to the local organisers, in particular David Jackson (who unfortunately was unable to attend) and Justin Hargreaves, for organising a very enjoyable meeting.

The next EuropaCat will be held in 2013 in France.

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Fast-tracked acceptance for Scopus!

09 Apr 2011

Last week we heard some exciting news in the Catalysis Science & Technology Editorial Office.

Our new journal has been accepted for indexing in Scopus, outside of the regular evaluation procedures, because it was considered as a “must-have” for the Scopus database. Our contact at Scopus tells us that in some exceptional cases journals receive this priority treatment.

The very positive endorsement comes just as we are about to publish online the second issue of the journal – keep a look out for it, or sign up for the journal’s e-alerts.

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Celebrating in style in Anaheim, USA

07 Apr 2011

Last week in Anaheim, during the ACS Spring National Meeting, we celebrated the launch of Catalysis Science & Technology.

To a packed audience, Associate Editor Professor Paul Chirik introduced the journal, explaining the ever increasing importance of catalysis to address the global challenges we face today. Catalysis Science & Technology was launched to bring together the best catalysis research, from heterogeneous, homogeneous and biocatalysis, in one journal, owned and published by a society publisher.

Associate Editor Paul Chirik (Princeton University)

At the end of the evening, a prize draw took place, to win an ipod nano. Congratulations to Dr Andrew Dove (University of Warwick, UK), who won the prize!

Issue One of Catalysis Science & Technology is available free online. Take a look today!

Celebrating Catalysis Science & Technology

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Issue One now online!

22 Mar 2011

The inaugural issue of Catalysis Science & Technology has been published today!

Front Cover by Graham Hutchings

In the editorial in this first issue, the Editors-in-Chief and Managing Editor describe the journal and their aims and aspirations for this new RSC Publication.

‘With today’s society demanding cheaper medicines and changes in resources for energy, bulk and fine chemicals, the contribution of catalysis to meet these challenges will be indispensable. Catalysis Science & Technology will play a key role in communicating these new developments to the community.’ P.van Leeuwen, C. Friend, J. Humphrey, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2011, 1, 11-12.

Issue 1 of Catalysis Science & Technology is now published online and access is free upon registration. This issue includes the following articles:

In their Perspective, Kalluri Ranganath and Frank Glorius highlight the potential application of (superpara) magnetic nanoparticles in asymmetric catalysis. Read the article here.

José Fierro and colleagues discuss the fundamentals and factors influencing the removal of the least reactive sterically hindered S-containing compounds present in transportation fuels. In the second part of their Perspective review they focus on the progress made in alternative process concepts and technologies that are being developed for ultra low sulfur fuel. Find out more here.

Wieslaw Roth and Jiří Čejka discuss two-dimensional zeolites – a promising and exciting area of solid materials research with high practical potential in adsorption and catalysis. Read more about this in the article here.

John Fossey's Inside Cover

Make sure you keep up-to-date with the latest issue by signing up for the Catalysis Science & Technology e-alert and newsletter.

And we hope this first issue encourages you to submit your work to Catalysis Science & Technology.

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Celebrating catalysis in Anaheim

18 Mar 2011

RSCPublishing invites you to a reception to celebrate the publication of the first issue of Catalysis Science & Technology (publication due next week)!

The reception will be held in Anaheim, during the Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society:

6.00-8.00pm
Tuesday 29th March
Los Angeles / La Jolla Room
Marriott Hotel, Anaheim, USA

All are very welcome, to enjoy some refreshments and meet Catalysis Science & Technology Associate Editor, Paul Chirik (Princeton University).

Meet Associate Editor, Professor Paul Chirik

RSC Editors Robert Eagling (Chemical Communications, Chemical Science, Chemical Society Reviews), Janet Freshwater (RSC Books), Jamie Humphrey (Catalysis Science & Technology,

CrystEngComm, Dalton Transactions) and Sarah Ruthven (Annual Reports, Green Chemistry, Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences) will host the evening.

Contact Jamie Humphrey, Managing Editor, Catalysis Science & Technology, if you would like to attend.

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Issue One of Catalysis Science & Technology – a preview

11 Mar 2011

With only a few days to go until the online and print publication of the first issue of Catalysis Science & Technology, we today received the advance print copies! Together the 3 Perspective artilces, 4 Communications and 8 Full Papers represent the diverse areas of active research in catalysis.

The three Perspective articles provide insightful commentary on the use superparamagentic nanoparticles for catalysis, the latest developments in hydrodesulfurisation processes and the promise of two-dimensional zeolites for catalysis. As with all articles published in Catalysis Science & Technology this year, online access is free.

Superparamagnetic nanoparticles for asymmetric catalysis—a perfect match, Kalluri V. S. Ranganath and Frank Glorius

Towards near zero-sulfur liquid fuels: a perspective review, Barbara Pawelec, Rufino M. Navarro, José Miguel Campos-Martin and José L. G. Fierro

Two-dimensional zeolites: dream or reality?, Wieslaw J. Roth and Jiří Čejka

The front cover image features an article by Graham Hutchings, the inside-front cover an article by John Fossey, while the back page features Adriano Zecchina’s article.

Understanding the effect of thermal treatments on the structure of CuAu/SiO₂catalysts and their performance in propene oxidation, Charlotte L. Bracey, Albert F. Carley, Jennifer K. Edwards, Peter R. Ellis and Graham J. Hutchings.

Model oxide supported MoS₂ HDS catalysts: structure and surface properties, Federico Cesano, Serena Bertarione, Andrea Piovano, Giovanni Agostini, Mohammed Mastabur Rahman, Elena Groppo, Francesca Bonino, Domenica Scarano, Carlo Lamberti, Silvia Bordiga, Luciano Montanari, Lucia Bonoldi, Roberto Millini and Adriano Zecchina

Novel N,O-Cu(OAc)₂ complex catalysed diastereo- and enantioselective 1,4-addition of glycine derivatives to alkylidene malonates, Ming Wang, Yu-Hua Shi, Jun-Fei Luo, Wenting Du, Xiao-Xin Shi, John S. Fossey and Wei-Ping Deng

Keep an eye out for the publication of this first issue of the journal, and to be part of Catalysis Science & Technology, submit your articles for publication.

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Axel Knop-Gericke joins the Catalysis Science & Technology Editorial Board

11 Mar 2011

I am very please to announce that Dr Axel Knop-Gericke has joined the Catalysis Science & Technology Editorial Board.

Based at the Fritz-Haber-Institut of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Axel’s research interests focus on the application of surface science methods to give a greater understanding of catalyst surfaces. Three approaches have been developed to allow the study of these surfaces under the high pressures typically used in catalysed systems: Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy using synchtron radiation in the 1-10 mbar range; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron raditaion in the mbar range with differential pumping of the analyser; and a single-crytsal microreactor for conversion studies in the 1-100 mbar range.

Axel joins the World Class Editorial Board:

Cynthia Friend, Piet van Leeuwen, Editors-in-chief

Paul Chirik, Paul Kamer, Noritaka Mizuno, Associate editors

Kuiling Ding, Deryn Fogg, Stan Golunski, David Jackson, Hans de Vries, members

More details about the Editorial Board can be found on the journal website.

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First Catalysis Science & Technology articles published online

31 Jan 2011

I am very pleased to introduce the very first articles published in Catalysis Science & Technology. All the efforts of our Associate Editors, authors and reviewers have helped us to reach this significant milestone in the launch of the journal.

This first selection of articles will be followed by more over the next couple of weeks, building up to the publication of the very first online issue of Catalysis Science & Technology in March 2011. All of these articles, indeed all articles published in 2011 and 2012, are free to access online. To arrange your free access, simply fill in the short online registration form and to view all the articles, visit the journal on the RSC Publishing Platform. I hope you enjoy reading these articles!

A Perspective article: Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles for Asymmetric Catalysis – A Perfect Match, by Frank Glorius and Kalluri Ranganath (Westfalische Wilhelms-Universtitat Munster, Germany)

A Communication: Activity improvement of gold yolk-shell catalysts for CO oxidation by doping with TiO₂, by Ferdi Schuth, Robert Guettel and Micheal Paul (MPI fuer Kohlenforschung – heterogenous catalysis, Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany)

A Communication: Oxidative, Photo-activated TiO2 Nanoparticles in Catalytic Acetylation of Primary Alcohols, by Chien-Tien Chen (National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan)

A Full Paper: Model oxide supported MoS₂ HDS catalysts: structure and surface properties, by Adriano Zecchina, Federico Cesano, Serena Bertarione, Andrea Piovani, Giovanni Aqostini, Mastabur Rahman, Francesca Bonino, Domenica Scarano, Carlo Lamberti and Silvia Bordiga (Universita di Torino – Dipartimento di Chimica Inorganica, Italy)

A Full Paper: Understanding the Effect of Thermal Treatments on the Structure of CuAu/SiO2 Catalysts and their Performance in Propene Oxidation, by Graham Hutchings (Cardiff University, UK)

Don’t forget, to be part of Catalysis Science & Technology from the very beginning, submit your latest research for publication in one of the first issues!

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