Speaker: Prof. Eric Doris
Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
(CEA/Paris-Saclay), France
Title: “Nanohybrid catalysts for synthetic transformations.”
Day and Date: Monday, February 20, 2023
Time: 4.00 pm.
Venue: Room no. 350, Chemistry Department
Second floor, Annex
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Hosted by Prof. I.N.N. Namboothiri
Abstract Supported metal nanoparticles are attracting increasing interest because they allow for clean,
selective and efficient catalytic transformations. In addition, supporting of the metals offers
the possibility to recover the active catalyst, allowing it to be reused. Numerous metals,
including gold, have been assembled onto solid supports although metallic gold has
traditionally been regarded as a poor catalytic species. The catalytic activity of gold is however
dramatically enhanced when downsized to nanoscale. This peculiar behavior of nano-gold has
recently boosted its use in fine chemical synthesis applied, for example to selective
hydrogenations, carbon-carbon bond formation, or oxidations.
Various materials can be used as support for nanoparticles including clays, zeolites, polymers,
metal oxides, amorphous carbon, etc. Compared to other supports, carbon nanotubes (CNT)
provide advantages that include chemical, thermal and mechanical stability, inertness, high
specific surface area, and chemically tunable topography. Moreover, CNTs are electronically
active and are likely to contribute to the stabilization of the metals. We recently reported
carbon nanotube-based hybrid catalysts that were assembled using a layer-by-layer strategy.
These nanohybrids, incorporating various metals, and exhibiting specific catalytic properties,
were applied to a wide variety of organic transformations. Some chemistry based on CNTmetal hybrids will be presented, including flow chemistry approaches