Catalysts, heterogeneous, homogeneous, and enzymatic, are comprised of nanometer-sized inorganic and/or organic components. They share molecular factors including charge, coordination, interatomic distance, bonding, and orientation of catalytically active atoms. By controlling the governing catalytic components and molecular factors, catalytic processes of a multichannel and multiproduct nature could be run in all three catalytic platforms to create unique end-products. Unifying the fields of catalysis is the key to achieving the goal of 100% selectivity in catalysis. Recyclable catalysts, especially those that display selective reactivity, are vital for the development of sustainable chemical processes. Among available catalyst platforms, heterogeneous catalysts are particularly well-disposed toward separation from the reaction mixture via filtration methods, which renders them readily recyclable. Furthermore, heterogeneous catalysts offer numerous handles - some without homogeneous analogues - for performance and selectivity optimization. These handles include nanoparticle size, pore profile of porous supports, surface ligands and interface with oxide supports, and flow rate through a solid catalyst bed. Despite these available handles, however, conventional heterogeneous catalysts are themselves often structurally heterogeneous compared to homogeneous catalysts, which complicates efforts to optimize and expand the scope of their reactivity and selectivity. Ongoing efforts are aimed to address the above challenge by heterogenizing homogeneous catalysts, which can be defined as the modification of homogeneous catalysts to render them in a separable (solid) phase from the starting materials and products. Specifically, we grow the small nanoclusters in dendrimers, a class of uniform polymers with the connectivity of fractal trees and generally radial symmetry. Thanks to their dense multivalency, shape persistence and structural uniformity, dendrimers have proven to be versatile scaffolds for the synthesis and stabilization of small nanoclusters. Then these dendrimer-encapsulated metal clusters (DEMCs) are adsorbed onto mesoporous silica. Through this method, we have achieved selective transformations that had been challenging to accomplish in a heterogeneous setting, e.g. [pi]-bond activation and aldol reactions. Extensive investigation into the catalytic systems under reaction conditions allowed us to correlate the structural features (e.g. oxidation states) of the catalysts and their activity. Moreover, we have demonstrated that supported DEMCs are also excellent catalysts for typical heterogeneous reactions, including hydrogenation and alkane isomerization. Critically, these investigations also confirmed that the supported DEMCs are heterogeneous and stable against leaching. Catalysts optimization is achieved through the modulation of various parameters. The clusters are oxidized (e.g., with PhICl2) or reduced (e.g., with H2) in situ. Changing the dendrimer properties (e.g., generation, terminal functional groups) is analogous to ligand modification in homogeneous catalysts, which affect both catalytic activity and selectivity. Similarly, pore size of the support is another factor in determining product distribution. In a flow reactor, the flow rate is adjusted to control the residence time of the starting material and intermediates, and thus the final product selectivity. Our approach to heterogeneous catalysis affords various advantages: (1) the catalyst system can tap into the reactivity typical to homogeneous catalysts, which conventional heterogeneous catalysts could not achieve; (2) unlike most homogeneous catalysts with comparable performance, the heterogenized homogeneous catalysts can be recycled; (3) improved activity or selectivity compared to conventional homogeneous catalysts is possible because of uniquely heterogeneous parameters for optimization. While localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) provides a powerful platform for nanoparticle catalysis, our studies suggest that in some cases interband transitions should be considered as an alternative mechanism of light-driven nanoparticle catalysis. The benefits already demonstrated by plasmonic nanostructures as catalysts provided the impetus for examining complementary activation modes based on the metal nanoparticle itself. Leveraging these transitions has the potential to provide a means to highly active catalysis modes that would otherwise be challenging to access. For example, for the preparation of highly active metal catalysts on a subnanosized scale is challenging, thus limiting their exploitation and study in catalysis. Our work suggests a novel and facile strategy for the formation of highly active gold nanocluster catalysts by light illumination of the interband transitions in the presence of the appropriate substrate.

Presents state-of-the-art knowledge of heterogeneous catalysts including new applications in energy and environmental fields This book focuses on emerging techniques in heterogeneous catalysis, from new methodology for catalysts design and synthesis, surface studies and operando spectroscopies, ab initio techniques, to critical catalytic systems as relevant to energy and the environment. It provides the vision of addressing the foreseeable knowledge gap unfilled by classical knowledge in the field. Heterogeneous Catalysts: Advanced Design, Characterization and Applications begins with an overview on the evolution in catalysts synthesis and introduces readers to facets engineering on catalysts; electrochemical synthesis of nanostructured catalytic thin films; and bandgap engineering of semiconductor photocatalysts. Next, it examines how we are gaining a more precise understanding of catalytic events and materials under working conditions. It covers bridging pressure gap in surface catalytic studies; tomography in catalysts design; and resolving catalyst performance at nanoscale via fluorescence microscopy. Quantum approaches to predicting molecular reactions on catalytic surfaces follows that, along with chapters on Density Functional Theory in heterogeneous catalysis; first principles simulation of electrified interfaces in electrochemistry; and high-throughput computational design of novel catalytic materials. The book also discusses embracing the energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century through heterogeneous catalysis and much more. Presents recent developments in heterogeneous catalysis with emphasis on new fundamentals and emerging techniques Offers a comprehensive look at the important aspects of heterogeneous catalysis Provides an applications-oriented, bottoms-up approach to a high-interest subject that plays a vital role in industry and is widely applied in areas related to energy and environment Heterogeneous Catalysts: Advanced Design, Characterization and Applications is an important book for catalytic chemists, materials scientists, surface chemists, physical chemists, inorganic chemists, chemical engineers, and other professionals working in the chemical industry.

This interconversion occurs via complex multistep, multielectron reactions, which can be carried out by either metallic heterogeneous or molecular homogeneous electrocatalysts. Metallic heterogeneous catalysts have a continuum of electronic states that distribute the redox burden of multielectron reactions, allowing for efficient catalysis. However, heterogeneous catalysts display a variety of active sites and local electronic structures, and are difficult to fine-tune at a molecular level. On the other hand, homogeneous catalysts allow a great degree of synthetic control over the catalytic active site. Moreover, the relative ease in spectroscopic characterization allows a mechanistic understanding of molecular catalysis at a level that is unattainable for heterogeneous catalysis. To bridge the advantages of both types of catalysts, we have developed a surface functionalization strategy for conjugating molecularly well-defined active sites to graphitic carbon surfaces. First, I will discuss the preparation and characterization of two new types of conjugating N-heterocyclic linkages to graphitic carbon surfaces. This work presents a general method for characterizing modified carbon surfaces with molecular-level structural detail. Then, I will present the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction activity of a graphite-conjugated rhenium catalyst, and compare its catalytic behavior to that of a molecular analog. Electrochemical and spectroscopic data show that graphite-conjugated catalysts do not behave identically to their molecular analogs, but rather show properties similar to that of metallic heterogeneous catalysts, providing a unique bridge between the worlds of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. Finally, in the appendix, I will present a chapter on the stability of graphite-conjugated linkages under electrochemical polarization, followed by a chapter on catalyzing the reduction of molecular pyridinium species using a graphite-conjugated rhodium catalyst.

Highlighting the key aspects and latest advances in the rapidly developing field of molecular catalysis, this book covers new strategies to investigate reaction mechanisms, the enhancement of the catalysts' selectivity and efficiency, as well as the rational design of well-defined molecular catalysts. The interdisciplinary author team with an excellent reputation within the community discusses experimental and theoretical studies, along with examples of improved catalysts, and their application in organic synthesis, biocatalysis, and supported organometallic catalysis. As a result, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the catalytic transformations, allowing them to adapt the knowledge to their own investigations. With its ideal combination of fundamental and applied research, this is an essential reference for researchers and graduate students both in academic institutions and in the chemical industry. With a foreword by Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann.

There are two main disciplines in catalysis research -- homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. This is due to the fact that the catalyst is either in the same phase (homogeneous catalysis) as the reaction being catalyzed or in a different phase (heterogeneous catalysis). Over the past decade, various approaches have been implemented to combine the advantages of homogeneous catalysis (efficiency, selectivity) with those of heterogeneous catalysis (stability, recovery) by the heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts or by carrying out homogeneous reactions under heterogeneous conditions. This unique handbook fills the gap in the market for an up-to-date work that links both homogeneous catalysis applied to organic reactions and catalytic reactions on surfaces of heterogeneous catalysts. As such, it highlights structural analogies and shows mechanistic parallels between the two, while additionally presenting kinetic analysis methods and models that either work for both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Chapters cover asymmetric, emulsion, phase-transfer, supported homogeneous, and organocatalysis, as well as in nanoreactors and for specific applications, catalytic reactions in ionic liquids, fluorous and supercritical solvents and in water. Finally, the text includes computational methods for investigating structure-reactivity relations. With its wealth of information, this invaluable reference provides academic and industrial chemists with novel concepts for innovative catalysis research.

The need to improve both the efficiency and environmental acceptability of industrial processes is driving the development of heterogeneous catalysts across the chemical industry, including commodity, specialty and fine chemicals and in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Drawing on international research, Supported Catalysts and their Applications discusses aspects of the design, synthesis and application of solid supported reagents and catalysts, including supported reagents for multi-step organic synthesis; selectivity in oxidation catalysis; mesoporous molecular sieve catalysts; and the use of Zeolite Beta in organic reactions. In addition, the two discrete areas of heterogeneous catalysis (inorganic oxide materials and polymer-based catalysts) that were developing in parallel are now shown to be converging, which will be of great benefit to the whole field. Providing a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in this fast-moving field, this book will be welcomed by industrialists and researchers, particularly in the agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals industries.

Successful industrial heterogeneous catalysts fulfill several key require ments: in addition to high catalytic activity for the desired reaction, with high selectivity where appropriate, they also have an acceptable commercial life and are rugged enough for transportation and charging into plant reactors. Additional requirements include the need to come online smoothly in a short time and reproducible manufacturing procedures that involve convenient processes at acceptable cost. The development of heterogeneous catalysts that meet these (often mutually exclusive) demands is far from straightforward, and in addition much of the actual manufacturing tech nology is kept secret for commercial reasons-thus there is no modern text that deals with the whole of this important subject. Principles of Catalyst Development, which deals comprehensively with the design, development, and manufacture of practical heterogeneous catalysts, is therefore especially valuable in meeting the long-standing needs of both industrialists and academics. As one who has worked extensively on a variety of catalyst development problems in both industry and academia, James T. Richardson is well placed to write an authoritative book covering both the theory and the practice of catalyst development. Much of the material contained in this book had its origin in a series of widely acclaimed lectures, attended mainly by industrial researchers, given over many years in the United States and Europe. All those in industry who work with catalysts, both beginners and those of considerable experience, should find this volume an essential guide.