Transition-Metal Catalysis for Hydrogenation, CO2 Valorization, and Sulfur Polymerization
This community develops catalysts to convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals, perform selective hydrogenation of organic molecules, and synthesize sulfur-based polymers.
The work centers on designing metal complexes and heterogeneous catalysts to drive specific reactions. Key activities include the transfer hydrogenation of ketones and imines, often using ruthenium, iridium, or cobalt complexes to produce chiral amines and alcohols. A major strand involves the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide with epoxides to form cyclic carbonates, utilizing ionic liquids, metal-organic frameworks, or organocatalysts. Additionally, the community investigates the copolymerization of elemental sulfur with cyclic disulfides to create degradable thermoplastics and adhesives. These methods emphasize mild conditions and high selectivity for synthesizing fine chemicals and sustainable materials.
The largest share of the community's output is found in rhodium research, accounting for 8.8% of all rhodium research, and 1,999 papers here. It also represents 6.0% of all iridium research, with 2,297 papers, and 5.9% of all ruthenium research, with 3,300 papers.
The community comprises 22,837 papers, published primarily in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Organometallics, and The Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Recent work continues to focus on CO2 fixation into cyclic carbonates using zinc oxide and metal-organic framework catalysts, as well as the transfer hydrogenation of quinolines using aluminum species.