This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I program will develop advanced heterogeneous catalyst support materials that will reduce costs and enhance productivity in the chemical process industries. Existing heterogeneous catalysts are limited by slow diffusion of reactants and products in the interfacial boundary region where chemical reactions occur. The objective of this work is to develop heterogeneous catalysts that have the combined benefits of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Solid support materials with long tether molecules terminated with metal-ligand complexes will be prepared. The tether removes the reactive complex from the surface of the support and 'dangles' it into the solution phase, where rapid chemical transformations occur. These non-diffusion-limited catalysts constitute a fundamental physical chemistry change in the nature of solid-liquid interfaces and are an enabling technology innovation for both improved products and processes. Tethered phosphine-palladium catalysts will be prepared and tested for their performance in the olefination reaction of an aromatic halide. The catalysts will be tested for their reaction kinetics, turnover number, and durability for regeneration and reuse. The results of this project will provide technology for a new generation of enhanced efficiency catalysts for the chemical process industry that are significantly more cost effective that those based on diffusion-limited technologies.
