Heterogeneous catalysts are defined as a type of catalyst which occupies a different phase from the reactants and products. Heterogeneous catalysis forms the cornerstone of the chemical and energy industries. The production of approximately 90% of chemicals (by volume) is assisted by solid catalysts, such as ammonia production through Harber-Bosch process and olefin polymerizations using Zigler-Natta catalyst. However, heterogeneous catalysts are generally known to be multicomponent and nonuniform. Disentangling the factors that govern the mode of action are difficult, limiting the fine-tuning of their regio- and stereoselectivity in catalytic reactions. The design and synthesis of uniform and tunable heterogeneous catalysts further expandes their application in fine-chemical production.<br/>The study of a special class of porous material known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been explosive over the past two decades. MOFs are constructed by connecting inorganic metal nodes with bridging organic linkers to create single-crystalline frameworks with uniform porosity. MOFs share a similarity to the industrially important zeolite catalysts that are characterized by large internal surface and uniform pores, but MOFs combine the diversity of both organic linkers and inorganic nodes to afford an infinite array porous solid catalyst. The site-isolation effect and structural uniformity of MOFs allowed the design of a large variety of novel catalytic species that are inaccessible with common homogeneous or heterogeneous systems, yet combines the advantage of both fields. My research was focused on the transformation of hydroxide groups on the MOF nodes, which offer powerful handles for introducing catalytic functionalities for a broad scope of reactions, which include but not limited to C-H bond activation, arene or heteroarene dearomatization and hydrogenation reactions.

Metal–organic framework functionalization: Toward uniform and tunable heterogeneous catalysts

2019 Fall National Meeting

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