Abstract
Biomass-derived alcohols (bio-ethanol) and polyols (glycerol, glucose and other monosaccharides) represent a class of abundant, natural and fossil-free feedstocks that can be exploited as sustainable platform chemicals to obtain commodities such as 1-butanol and higher alcohols (to be used as second generation bio-fuel, lubricant and bio-based platform for pharmaceuticals) and to generate hydrogen (high density energy vector and reducing agent in chemical syntheses), respectively. The key issue is to achieve high productivities and selectivities to the desired products under mild conditions of temperatures and pressures using green reaction protocols, such as those achievable in the presence of suitable, tailored catalysts. The focus of the Project will thus be to design and apply, for the desired reactions, a small library of bifunctional and proton-responsive homogeneous dehydrogenation/hydrogenation catalysts, able to decrease the energy demand of the processes by metal-to-ligand cooperation and/or proton shuttling. The most active polyol dehydrogenation systems will be used as in situ H-sources for the reduction of CO2 and CO -shuttle derivatives (carbamates, ureas) to formates (used in silage and deicing) or methanol (fuel, solvent), to replace dangerous and expensive pressurized hydrogen gas. The complementary expertises of the two Research Units (RUs) in synthesis and characterization of earth-abundant and platinum group transition metal complexes, optimization of catalytic processes, analysis of reaction products and mechanistic studies by experimental and computational approaches will be integrated and shared to ensure a smooth flow of information and exchange of catalysts and data. The Project will constitute a well-defined advanced training ground in innovative fundamental and applied research for early-stage researchers, giving a unified vision of catalyst design and applicability, in the timely fields of green chemistry for biomass-derived feedstock valorization and sustainable CO reduction processes.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Rita Mazzoni
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale "Toso Montanari"
Coordinator:
CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 79.809,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
16/10/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
