Proposal Number: CTS-0086808 Principal Investigator: Charles Eckert Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
The goal of this project is to study phase-transfer catalysts (PTCs) for supercritical fluid applications. Synthesis of perfluorinated PTCs will be carried out, and a series of industrially useful reactions will be performed. Proposed reactions include displacement reactions, ether syntheses, polymerization reactions, and alkylations. The replacement of organic solvents with supercritical carbon dioxide will have a positive environmental impact. The PIs plan to demonstrate the tuning of catalyst properties with structure, focusing on phase distribution and activity. This project represents a multidisciplinary collaboration between chemists and chemical engineers to implement a novel technology involving PTC reactions in safe, cheap, nontoxic supercritical carbon dioxide. The chemistry of the reactions will be engineered with the downstream separations to achieve both process advantages and economic benefits. PTC is currently an important industrial technology, useful for carrying out reactions between two or more reactants that would normally be immiscible. Numerous chemical products are synthesized through PTC, and novel methods for enhancing reaction kinetics and selectivity may have a large economic impact.
