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SFB 706:  Selective Catalytic Oxidation of C-H Bonds with Molecular Oxygen

Subject Area Chemistry
Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
Term from 2006 to 2010
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 15581711
 
Oxidation of C-H bonds in hydrocarbons is of great importance in laboratory syntheses, in large-scale industrial processes, and is also a relevant process in the metabolism of living cells.
Molecular oxygen is involved in many of these processes, but the great potential of this abundant, non-toxic, and sustainable oxidising agent could not be realised up to now. Reasons for this shortcoming are the relative inertness of molecular oxygen towards C-H bonds and the poor selectivity in reactions involving organic substrates.
The aim of the Collaborative Research Centre is to turn molecular oxygen into a selective oxidising agent for organic substrates. The activation of molecular oxygen and the oxidation of C-H bonds will take place at metal centres with well-defined environment which means metals in confined geometries (zeolites, molecular sieves), metal complexes in solution, and metal ions as part of active centres of enzymes, enzyme/protein complexes and of whole cells.
The investigations are focussed on three subtopics where the preparative methodology and mechanistic understanding are at present not very well developed and, therefore, new insights would be of great interest: Oxidation of various alkanes to alcohols and to ketones (A), oxidation of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to 2-hydroxy-1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, of diverse alkenes to allyl alcohols or oxidative coupling of phenol derivatives (B) and oxidation of aromatic compounds to phenols (C). Moreover, the selected different types of reactions play an important role in the synthesis of pharmaceutic products, natural materials with interesting biological properties, fine chemicals, and industrial products.
Suitable spectroscopic and theoretical methods will be used in order to obtain a detailed picture of catalysis on a molecular level and by this means make it possible to develop improved catalysts.
In the long run the aim of the project is to make ubiquitous oxygen into a universally usable and selective oxidising agent.
DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

Applicant Institution Universität Stuttgart
Participating University Universität Hohenheim
 
 

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