Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research seeks to use photochemistry and nanotechnology to develop catalytic processes that can be used in flow systems, that use recoverable and reusable catalysts, and in most cases that can be initiated/accelerated by light. The objectives of this proposal involve mechanistic studies to find/invent new catalysts that can be used in reactions such as C-C bond formation, controlled hydrogenations and dehydrogenations, as well as environmental chemistry. While our goals centre on heterogeneous catalysis, some work will be performed in homogeneous systems and will contribute to the understanding of the catalytic process, as will the use of catalysis informatics. We will also explore catalysis using single molecule spectroscopy to understand mechanisms, catalyst transport in the nanoscale, and test single atom catalysts on various supports aiming at maximized atom economy and improved catalytic efficiency. In our journey to optimal heterogeneous flow catalysis we will explore metal and metal oxide catalysts stabilized in various supports including glass fibres, an area we have pioneered. Among new materials we will explore decatungstate (DT) as an unusual catalyst capable of abstracting electrons or H-atoms to yield the organic radicals involved in processes such as photoredox catalysis. Our discovery that DT shows NIR phosphorescence will enable unprecedented kinetic studies under real-time catalysis conditions; it will be our goal to make DT a heterogeneous photocatalyst. Other examples of applied flow photocatalysis will include water remediation using flow compatible catalysts. Finally, we will venture into catalysis informatics. As experimentalists we face a major challenge, the inability to obtain millions or thousands of data sets, as even with high throughput techniques, collecting hundreds of data sets becomes a realistic ceiling for the number of independent experiments. This requires unconventional data training/learning approaches that - when applied to catalysis informatics - can narrow the analysis requirements so that one can learn from intelligently selected sets of experiments. We will use our photochemistry expertise to combine high throughput methods and real time simultaneous monitoring of multiple reactions as a way to explore the space of interesting chemical transformations. We will explore a simplified scoring system, easily visualized with radar plots that can allow generally accessible algorithms to be implemented and adapted to account for real-world socioeconomic biases such as environmental impact, regional economic importance, and material abundance. Using this approach, we aim to develop catalysts which can realistically meet the everchanging social, environmental and chemical needs of the 21st century, address Canadian challenges and educate HQP with awareness and sensitivity to these challenges.