5Ca
Catalysis
Every kind of catalyst: heterogeneous, homogeneous, enzymatic, organo-, photo- and electrocatalysis.
My level
5.1 Principles
- What catalysts doGCSEA-LevelUndergradLowering activation energy, alternative pathways and why catalysts are not consumed.
- Conversion, selectivity and yieldA-LevelUndergradQuantifying catalyst performance.
- The Sabatier principle and volcano plotsUndergradPhDOptimal binding strength and descriptor-based catalyst design.
- Catalytic cycles and the energetic span modelPhDTurnover-determining states and estimating TOF from a computed energy profile.
5.2 Heterogeneous catalysis
- Physisorption and chemisorptionUndergradPhDHow molecules bind to surfaces, adsorption enthalpies and sticking.
- The Langmuir isothermUndergradPhDSurface coverage as a function of pressure for molecular and dissociative adsorption.
- BET surface areaUndergradPhDMultilayer adsorption and measuring catalyst surface area.
- Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Rideal kineticsUndergradPhDRate laws for surface reactions between adsorbed and gas-phase species.
- d-band model and scaling relationsPhDElectronic-structure descriptors of surface reactivity.
- Supported metal catalystsUndergradPhDDispersion, particle size, metal-support interactions and single-atom catalysts.
- Zeolites and shape selectivityUndergradPhDBrønsted acid sites, confinement and shape-selective cracking and isomerisation.
- Industrial catalytic processesGCSEA-LevelUndergradHaber-Bosch, contact process, steam reforming, Fischer-Tropsch, cracking and catalytic converters.
- Mass and heat transfer in porous catalystsPhDInternal diffusion limits, the Thiele modulus and effectiveness factor.
- Catalyst deactivationUndergradPhDPoisoning, coking, sintering and regeneration.
- Characterising catalystsPhDXPS, TPD, chemisorption, TEM and in situ/operando spectroscopy.
5.3 Homogeneous catalysis
- Homogeneous hydrogenationUndergradPhDWilkinson's catalyst and asymmetric hydrogenation cycles.
- HydroformylationUndergradPhDRhodium and cobalt catalysts, linear:branched selectivity and ligand effects.
- Palladium cross-couplingUndergradPhDSuzuki-Miyaura, Heck, Negishi, Sonogashira and Buchwald-Hartwig reactions.
- Olefin metathesisUndergradPhDGrubbs and Schrock catalysts and the Chauvin mechanism.
- Olefin polymerisationUndergradPhDZiegler-Natta and metallocene catalysts; Cossee-Arlman insertion.
- Asymmetric catalysisUndergradPhDChiral ligands and how ΔΔG‡ sets enantioselectivity.
- C-H activationPhDDirected and undirected C-H functionalisation and mechanisms (CMD, σ-bond metathesis).
- Acid and base catalysisUndergradPhDSpecific vs general acid-base catalysis and the Brønsted catalysis law.
5.4 Biocatalysis and organocatalysis
- Enzyme kinetics (Michaelis-Menten)A-LevelUndergradEnzyme-substrate binding, saturation kinetics and catalytic efficiency.
- Enzyme inhibitionUndergradPhDCompetitive, uncompetitive and non-competitive inhibition.
- OrganocatalysisUndergradPhDEnamine, iminium, hydrogen-bond and N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis.
5.5 Photo- and electrocatalysis
- Semiconductor photocatalysisUndergradPhDBand gaps, charge separation and water splitting on TiO2 and related materials.
- Photoredox catalysisPhDExcited-state redox potentials and single-electron transfer in synthesis.
- Electrocatalysis: HER, OER and ORRUndergradPhDOverpotentials, Tafel analysis and catalysts for fuel cells and electrolysers.
5.6 Sustainable catalysis
- Green chemistry metricsGCSEA-LevelUndergradAtom economy, E-factor and process mass intensity.
- CO2 utilisation and biomass conversionPhDCatalytic routes from CO2 and renewable feedstocks to fuels and chemicals.