Brønsted Acid Activated Chiral Brønsted Bases: Catalysts for Enantioselective Photochemical and Aminyl Radical Reactions. In coming years the Australian pharmaceutical industry will face unprecedented challenges regarding the generation of wealth in an environmentally sustainable fashion. This proposal aims to address these issues through the development of a range of organocatalytic methods, which will provide access to valuable materials in a sustainable manner. While the new technologies deri ....Brønsted Acid Activated Chiral Brønsted Bases: Catalysts for Enantioselective Photochemical and Aminyl Radical Reactions. In coming years the Australian pharmaceutical industry will face unprecedented challenges regarding the generation of wealth in an environmentally sustainable fashion. This proposal aims to address these issues through the development of a range of organocatalytic methods, which will provide access to valuable materials in a sustainable manner. While the new technologies derived from these studies will deliver general benefits in the area of chemical synthesis, more localised benefits will be achieved through the synthesis of the biologically significant Grandisine natural products, which have a possible role in the management of chronic pain.Read moreRead less
Carbon dioxide conversion over nanostructured mixed metal catalysts. Nanocatalysts are particles of very small size that have the ability to accelerate chemical reactions. This project will develop nanocatalysts to convert carbon dioxide into other small molecules to provide new options for managing greenhouse gas emissions.
Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a ....Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a range of scientific skills for Australian research students. Read moreRead less
Catalytic currency: the role of size-reactivity relationships of simple and mixed 'coinage' metal clusters in C-C bond forming reactions. Chemicals have a profound influence on our daily lives. For instance, the petrol we use in our cars, the plastics used for our shopping bags or the margarine we eat. A common theme of all these products is the use of catalysts in their industrial manufacture. Thus, this Australian Research Council funded project aims to shed light on the role of some catalysts ....Catalytic currency: the role of size-reactivity relationships of simple and mixed 'coinage' metal clusters in C-C bond forming reactions. Chemicals have a profound influence on our daily lives. For instance, the petrol we use in our cars, the plastics used for our shopping bags or the margarine we eat. A common theme of all these products is the use of catalysts in their industrial manufacture. Thus, this Australian Research Council funded project aims to shed light on the role of some catalysts in breaking and forming chemical bonds and attempts to set rules to develop new and improved ones. Improved catalysts will not only reduce the cost of goods manufacturing, but will also reduce waste products and energy consumption. This research will also train new scientists and contribute to the enhancement of Australia's research profile.Read moreRead less
Novel Inorganic Nanostructures Fabricated using Polymeric Supports and Templates for Environmental and Catalytic Applications. The flexibility and versatility of nanotemplating processes will be exploited to fabricate novel porous inorganic structures with controllable properties. These include tailorable surface area, pore size and structure, particle size and composition. The influence of such properties will be studied in various applications, including the photocatalytic decomposition of pol ....Novel Inorganic Nanostructures Fabricated using Polymeric Supports and Templates for Environmental and Catalytic Applications. The flexibility and versatility of nanotemplating processes will be exploited to fabricate novel porous inorganic structures with controllable properties. These include tailorable surface area, pore size and structure, particle size and composition. The influence of such properties will be studied in various applications, including the photocatalytic decomposition of pollutants, where the ability to control the morphological structure of the inorganic materials introduced by the templating technique will lead to enhanced efficiencies. These nanostructures will also be considered for use in solar cells, an alternative energy source that is currently receiving copious attention worldwide.Read moreRead less
Reactivity and Spectroscopy of Gas Phase Metal Oxide Cluster Ions: Structure-Reactivity Correlations and Fundamental Insights into Heterogeneous Catalysis. This project will make use of world class ARC funded instrumentation to carry out breakthrough science. The research will contribute fundamental insights into chemical bond activation relevant to industrial catalytic processes important to national manufacturing industries. These insights will improve the efficiency and selectivity of catal ....Reactivity and Spectroscopy of Gas Phase Metal Oxide Cluster Ions: Structure-Reactivity Correlations and Fundamental Insights into Heterogeneous Catalysis. This project will make use of world class ARC funded instrumentation to carry out breakthrough science. The research will contribute fundamental insights into chemical bond activation relevant to industrial catalytic processes important to national manufacturing industries. These insights will improve the efficiency and selectivity of catalytic processes and lead to increased profitability and/or a reduction in unwanted side products and pollution. The project will train young scientists in important experimental and theoretical chemical techniques, and will enhance and contribute to Australia's international research profile.Read moreRead less
Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being pro ....Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being produced by a number of the major car manufacturers. The solar water splitting technology based on sustainable materials and the novel cell configuration to be developed in this project will provide the needed stability and efficiency of the cell as well as reduce the manufacturing cost. Read moreRead less
Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique ....Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique range of properties to explore:-
(i) coupling of photo- and electro-chemical processes into effective catalytic cycles;
(ii) photo- and electro-chemical processes in ionic liquid solvents;
(iii) synthesis and redox reactivity of nanoparticles stabilised by polyoxometalates.
Read moreRead less