A Modular Toolbox Based on Iridium, Rhodium and Amino Acids for Homogeneous Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation

Joseph S. Merola^*, David M. Morris and Chad M. Bernier

Virginia Tech, USA

This talk will describe a modular approach to developing an extensive toolbox to construct homogeneous catalysts, especially for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH)- an important industrial process to carry out hydrogenation without molecular hydrogen. Beginning with rhodium or iridium, there are two scaffolds we have explored – Cp*R (Cp*R are tetramethylcyclopentadienyl rings with the fifth site being a group other than methyl) compounds with amino acids and N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes also with amino acids. In both scaffolds, the multiplicity of combinations (Cp*R variants and the many amino acids or NHC variants and the many amino acids) allow for the “tuning” of the catalyst to obtain optimum selectivity for specific substrates. Our lab has synthesized and screened hundreds of compounds and this talk will give details on the synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of both sets of scaffolds. Single-crystal X-ray structures of many of the complexes will be described as a foundation to understanding catalytic selectivity.

Biography:
Joseph S. Merola is a Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Tech and a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University (B.S. Chemistry, 1974). He received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1978 from M.I.T under the direction of Professor Dietmar Seyferth. In 1978, he joined the Corporate Research Laboratories of Exxon Research and Engineering Co in New Jersey. In 1987, he joined Virginia Tech where he has been ever since, although he has held many different roles over his time there. Professor Merola is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Developments of Hydrodesulfurization Catalysis

Abbas Anwar Ezzat

Pharos University, Egypt

Hydrodesulphurization processes are continuously developing as an essential task for the production of ultra-low sulfur of petroleum middle distillates, such as the introduction of nano-catalysts has led to a big revolution in the hydro treating technologies.

The catalyst activity and stability developments can be achieved by improving the intrinsic activity of the active sites, as well as by increasing the number of Co–Mo–S structure at mild conditions.

The Mo sulfidation at low temperature has led to the increase of the formation of Co–Mo–S structure.

Catalyst developments include new highly selective multicomponent oxide and metallic catalysts, Nano-zeolites, Carbon Nano Tubes and homogeneous transition metal complexes.

Researchers have aimed at understanding the fundamental mechanism of ultra‐deep HDS catalysis, where various technology for the preparation of HDS catalysts have been developed, including novel support materials as well as methods for tuning the surface properties of catalysts.

On the other hand, novel research work has been conducted to optimize catalyst performance by the development of stacked catalyst technology application, investigating the interactions between different types of HDS catalysts and different hydro treatment reactor zones.

Biography:
Abbas Anwar Ezzat is currently a petrochemical professor at Pharos University and a distinguished scientist at materials Science Dept., the Institute of Graduate Studies & Research, Alexandria University. In addition, he is a local consult for the Egyptian Petroleum/Petrochemical sector and a senior associate consultant for Channoil Consulting LTD, London. Prior joining Academia, he occupied several top management positions in the Egyptian Petroleum/Petrochemical industries. In the field of training, he is conducting local and regional training programs in the fields of Petroleum/Petrochemical Processing, trouble Shootings, Operations management etc.
Dr. Ezzat holds MSc in Chemical Engineering from Washington University and Ph.D. in Petrochemical applications from Alexandria University. He completed his postgraduate studies in Petroleum Processing Technologies from the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University, USA.
Dr. Ezzat has published some articles in the fields of Operation Management, Applied Reliability Concepts, Trouble Shooting, process intensification processes and Catalysis Developments in Petrochemical Industries.
Dr. Ezzat has participated in many international conferences organized by OAPEC, WRA, B.F.G, B.P., LUMMUS, AKZONobel, Marcusevans, CTAC, IQPC and EGYPS.

Active and Selective Photocatalysis on Ultrafine Metal Nanoparticles

Yugang Sun

Temple University, USA

The incompatibility of the solar energy and the light absorption band of a chemical bond prevents the use of light to activate the chemical bond for interesting chemical reactions directly. This presentation will focus on a strategy that enables the efficient coupling of photon energy into chemical bonds to selectively promote the desired chemical reactions. The strategy relies on the excitation of hot electrons in ultrafine metal nanoparticles (with size < 10 nm) upon photo-illumination and the following efficient injection of the hot electrons into specific chemical bonds. The redistribution of hot electrons in the chemical bonds dissipates the kinetic energy of hot electrons to the chemical bonds, activating the chemical bonds to promote the target chemical reactions. These sequential processes occur in a confined space, representing a series of quantum transitions, i) optical-to-electronic transition in quantum-sized metal nanoparticles (i.e., hot electron generation), ii) electronic-to-electrical transition at the nanoparticle/adsorbate interface (i.e., hot electron injection) and iii) electrical-to-electronic transition in adsorbate molecules (i.e., chemical bond activation). Selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes rather than ketones/acids, a class of important chemical reactions for many industrial processes (e.g., esterification), will be used as an example to highlight the use of ultrafine metal nanoparticles for photo-driven selective chemical transformation on platinum group metal (PMG) nanoparticle catalysts, which do not exhibit strong optical absorption.

Biography:
Yugang Sun is currently an associate professor of chemistry at Temple University. He received his B.S and Ph.D. degree from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1996 and 2001 respectively. In 2006-2015, Dr. Sun was a research scientistat at Argonne National Laboratory. He received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and DOE’s Office of Science Early Career Scientist and Engineering Award. He is one of the highly cited materials scientists and chemists. His research focuses on the design/synthesis of functional nanomaterials, the development of in-situ synchrotron x-ray techniques and catalysis.