NSF Award
2400361
With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Alex John of California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is studying the use of molybdenum catalysts for transforming organic molecules containing hydroxyl groups (i.e. OH groups) into useful products. One of these approaches is focused on removing two adjacent hydroxyls bonded to carbons in a substrate and installing a carbon-carbon double bond instead. The second approach aims to convert the carbon oxygen single bond in hydroxyl containing substrates into carbon-oxygen double bonds. Both kinds of resulting molecules are widely used in the chemical industry for the manufacture of a variety of consumer products. The goal of the proposed work is to develop a correlation between the structure of the molybdenum catalyst and its ability to perform the desired transformations. This research is being carried out primarily by undergraduate students in Dr. John's research laboratory, including underrepresented minorities in STEM areas. This grant will support students as they engage in research in a contemporary area and mold them as global citizens who understand current needs in the chemical enterprise. <br/><br/>With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Alex John of California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is studying ligand effects in molybdenum catalyzed deoxydehydration of glycols and alcohol oxidations. While alcohol oxidation to corresponding carbonyl compounds has been researched extensively, there is scope for developing greener methods for achieving this transformation. Efforts in deoxydehydration on the other hand are more recent and are aimed at developing practical approaches for deoxygenation of biomass for generating platform chemicals. This project aims to gain fundamental understanding of both catalysis emphasizing ligand effects, through experimental and computational investigations, with the goal of developing superior catalysts for both processes. Furthermore, the role of ligand features (sterics, electronics etc.) in facilitating these fundamentally distinct (oxidation vs reduction) reactions will be probed and the findings will be of interest to the broader inorganic, organometallic, and catalysis communities.<br/><br/>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.
