Catalyst design can increase catalytic activity and selectivity. For homogeneous catalysts, the design can be tuned on the molecular level to alter the catalytic site in a uniform and impactful manner. For heterogeneous catalytic materials, the synthesis methods are thought to produce a distribution of catalytic sites that each have different activities and selectivities that contribute as whole to the overall observed results. Through using homogeneous synthetic techniques, we are able to tune on the molecular level the heterogeneous catalyst design. Through tuning the design, we find that the conversion of glucose to fructose is affected, demonstrating the importance of a molecular approach to designing heterogeneous catalytic materials. Overall, these results provide unique insights on the nature of the surface interactions of the catalytic sites with the silica surface that improve our understanding of these materials.

Tuning the molecular design of catalytic materials to increase activity and selectivity for mesoporous silica materials

254th National Meeting (2017)

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