Grant: Alliance Grants

Technological development and ongoing efforts to re-establish local manufacturing capabilities are increasing global demand for D2O, D2 and deuterated chemicals. Replacing hydrogen in chemicals with its heavier isotope, deuterium, provides isotopic effects that can provide numerous benefits. These benefits are critical to the fabrication of metal oxide semiconductors in modern electronic devices, ensuring stability and suitable performance of plastics used in fiber optics cables, increasing the lifetime of pharmaceuticals, and increasing performance metrics for organic light-emitting diodes. The demand for dueterated chemicals is seen in the global market for D2O, which expanded from $35.0M in 2015 to $57.6M in 2019. This collaborative project seeks to improve the efficiency of deuteration of small molecules using isotopic exchange reactions, and to diversify the library of deuterated chemicals by the industrial partner. This will be done by establishing a family of modern catalysts based on elements with high natural abundance. Research will involve the synthesis of catalysts, analysis of the chemical reaction mechanisms underlying isotopic exchange, optimization of catalyst compositions and processing protocols, and testing in prototype reactors. The industrial partner in this project is the world leader in the global deuterium supply chain. This project will enable them to continue their growth and diversification.