Synergistic, Multifunction Catalysts for Hydride Manipulation

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project, Dr. Travis Williams and his team at the University of Southern California are developing new bi-functional catalysts to speed up fuel production. The new catalysts combine two capabilities that allow them to operate at mild temperatures and with high efficiency. Specifically, the catalysts pair a transition metal with a color-containing molecule, a Lewis acid, or other species to produce high-value added chemical products. In addition to these potentially commercializable efforts, Professor Travis is involved in several educational outreach activities; These include acting as a mentor for the student-hosted colloquia at USC and enabling the Boy Scouts to visit a biodiesel refinery at Catalina Island. The biodiesel plan converts used cooking oil obtained from a hard-to-manage waste streams to diesel fuel for water desalination. The visits teach lessons of sustainability to hundreds of young people every summer. With funding from the Chemical Catalysis Program of NSF's Chemistry Division, Dr. Travis Williams at co-workers at the University of Southern California are developing new catalysts in which two modes of catalytic reactivity are combined in a single catalyst. The group is extending concepts in cooperative catalysis to advance technologies that form and cleave of carbon-hydrogen bonds. The project combines the concept of quinoline photobasicity with very successful alcohol oxidation catalysts to realize a first-of-class temporary, photo-activated base within a late-metal (iridium) complex. This bifunctional catalyst enables catalytic reactions where both an acid and base are needed in a single catalytic cycle. The project further deploys a nickel catalyst for carbon dioxide-to-methanol conversions. These initial efforts are then combined to generate a hybrid system in which two-electron hydride transfers to the iridium catalyst are enabled by the sequential one-electron redox events at the nickel catalyst. In addition to these efforts, Dr. Williams supports an education programs involving a demonstration biodiesel refinery at Catalina Island. This facility works with neighboring youth summer camps to teach lessons of sustainability and waste reclamation to hundreds of young people every summer. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.