J. T. Donald Lecture: Designing Structured Materials for Heterogeneous Catalysis, Prof. Avelino Corma

The final objective during the design of a solid catalyst is to selectively direct the reaction towards the desired product.  This could be achieved by controlling each one of the reaction steps which include reactant diffusion, adsorption, surface reaction and product desorption and diffusion.

Such a control requires more than a simple solid catalysts in where one may try to generate the active sites. Then, we design and prepare structured inorganic micro and mesoporous materials with controlled porosity and framework compositions that can act as highly active, selective and stable solid catalysts.

To improve solid-gas (liquid) interactions and transition state stabilization by dispersion forces, hybrid organic-inorganic materials are also prepared in where the active sites can be introduced in the organic, the inorganic or in both components. Then, multifunctional catalysts involving acid and base, acid/base/metal, acid/base/metal/ enzyme allow to perdorm multistep reactions in a cascade manner.

It will be presented that through a molecular design of the solid catalysts it is not only possible to develop new “laboratory concepts” but to transfer those concepts into industrial applications.