Tuning Nano‐Nickel Catalyst Hydrogenation Aptitude by On‐the‐Fly Zirconium Doping
https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202000235

The effect of nano‐Ni catalyst post‐synthetic Zr‐modification on hydrogenation reaction of 6‐methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one was investigated in a fixed bed continuous‐flow micro‐reactor to produce fine chemicals. The catalytic performance revealed that Zr‐doping achieved by surface organometallic chemistry approach modifies the natural aptitude of nickel to hydrogenate C=C bond, since the addition of small quantities of zirconium significantly increased the amount of unsaturated and saturated alcohols formed in 6‐methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one hydrogenation. Quantum chemical calculations revealed a stronger interaction between Zr←O=C that promotes the formation of C=C semihydrogenation product and enhances the probability of complete hydrogenation. The on‐the‐fly strategy presented herein enables for rapid optimization and understanding of catalytic processes.

He will work on theory of reactivity at metallic surfaces

Gosia was the guest of Otokoclub.pl portal and gave an interview on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007 (Gerhard Ertl).
See the interview (in PL only, sorry) under: http://otokoclub.pl/video_,355,wywiad-z-dr-malgorzata-zienkiewicz-machnik-o-nagrodzie-nobla-z-chemii-z-2007-r.html

The CoopCat team is now officially recognized at IPC PAS as Group 20: Cooperative Catalysis!

Marcin is a master student from Warsaw University of Technology. He will focus on enantioselective epoxidation of enones. Good luck Marcin!

Aleksandra will work on homogeneous catalysis problems, especially on non-linear effects. She will also contribute to our research in heterogeneous catalysis. Good luck Sasha!

Happy to announce new paper from our group:

Z-isomerization of retinoids through combination of monochromatic photoisomerization and metal catalysis

Catalytic Z-isomerization of retinoids to their thermodynamically less stable Z-isomer remains a challenge. In this report, we present a photochemical approach for the catalytic Z-isomerization of retinoids using monochromatic wavelength UV irradiation treatment. We have developed a straightforward approach for the synthesis of Z-retinoids in high yield, overcoming common obstacles normally associated with their synthesis. Calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) have allowed us to correlate the experimentally observed Z-isomer distribution of retinoids with the energies of chemically important intermediates, which include ground- and excited-state potential energy surfaces. We also demonstrate the application of the current method by synthesizing gram-scale quantities of 9-cis-retinyl acetate 9Z-a. Operational simplicity and gram-scale ability make this chemistry a very practical solution to the problem of Z-isomer retinoid synthesis.

Read more: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/ob/c9ob01645g

We are hiring! We look for a skilled PhD student and post-doctoral researcher to join CoopCat team. Student positions are available as well. See details in Jobs section!

Our work on catalytic E/Z isomerization of retinoids was just accepted in Dalton Transactions! It is already online as ‘just accepted’ unformated paper:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/dt/c9dt02189b#!divAbstract

This work is a result of our collaboration with Prof. Palczewski group at UC Irvine.

Happy to share press releases about our two recent papers:

Hidden gapless states on the path to semiconductor nanocrystals about our Mater. Horiz. paper.

The road to green hydrogen runs through mazes in algal proteins about our Nat. Chem. contribution!