Special Issue "Heterogeneous Catalysis"

Guest Editor
Dr. Eric Guibal
Ecole des Mines d'Alčs, Laboratoire Génie de l'Environnement Industriel, 6 Avenue de Clavières, F-30319 Alès, Cedex, France
E-Mail: eric.guibal@ema.fr
Interests: treatment of wastewaters (metals, dyes); adsorption & biosorption process; liquid/liquid extraction processes; coagulation & flocculation; catalytic processes; synthesis of new materials based on biopolymers (physical and chemical modifications)

Dear Colleagues,

Heterogeneous catalysis is key step in the synthesis pathway of a number of products in fields as diverse as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals but also in environmental applications;. The specific properties brought to the reaction by the supports open the route to enhanced efficiency, selectivity in synthesis, and improved competitiveness. This special issue of molecules dedicated to Heterogeneous Catalysis calls for both fundamental and applied contributions in this field of growing academic and industrial interests. Special attention will be paid to the characterization of materials (surface properties, diffusion characteristics), the identification of mechanisms and limiting steps, and the contribution of support properties to the orientation/selectivity of catalytic reactions. A special attention will be paid to original supports (based on renewable resources).

Dr. Eric Guibal
Guest Editor

Submission

• heterogeneous catalysis
• support characterization
• surface properties
• porosity
• kinetics
• governing rate
• selectivity
• reaction pathways
• modeling
• alternative supports

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Metal Organic Frameworks: An Exciting New Class of Components for Selective and Chiral Oxidation Catalysis: An Comprehensive Overview
Authors: Karen Leus ^1,2 and Pascal Van Der Voort ^1,2,*
Affiliation: ¹ Organometallics and Catalysis, Center for Ordered Materials, COMOC, Belgium
² Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University, UGent, Krijgslaan 281, building S3, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Abstract: Since the discovery of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) in 1999, the amount of new structures has grown exponentially. A MOF typically consists of inorganic nodes that are connected by organic linkers to form a crystalline, highly porous structures. Very typical linkers are benzenedi- or tricarboxylates. Two of the most promising applications of these highly porous materials is gas storage and separation and heterogeneous catalysis. Especially in the liquid phase and mild reaction conditions, MOFs open up unprecedented opportunities to replace homogeneous catalysts by a sustainable and stable heterogeneous catalyst. The catalytic function can be introduced as (i) the active metal site; (ii) an extra functionality in the linker; (iii) an impurity or dopant and (iv) a “ship-in-a-bottle” complex as a homogeneous catalysts is no longer able to leave the cages of the porous MOF network. This way, shape selectivity and even chiral selectivity can be created. We will present an overview of the state of the art of functionalized MOFs for the case of selective liquid phase oxidations and epoxidations, focusing on improved selectivity or chirality compared to a homogeneous system.