Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The requested microwave reactor with Raman spectrometer and autosampler will be critical piece of infrastructure to execute and analyze high-temperature and high-pressure reactions. This unique combination of instruments just became commercially available in 2019 and provides a new, unique tool to perform in-line monitoring of microwave reactions. By allowing reaction kinetics and the observation of key reaction intermediates, it will provide a crucial new tool to facilitate the determination of reaction mechanisms, a key parameter for the development of new reactivity and optimization of novel chemical transformations. This equipment will provide measurement capabilities unique in Canada and will enable researchers to make advances in synthetic chemistry that otherwise would not be accessible to them. ******Reactions in the applicants' laboratories are routinely performed under inert atmosphere to eliminate exogenous oxygen, moisture or to prevent volatile reactants from escaping. However, the study of these reactions is obfuscated by the lack of available methods for in situ analysis. Other methods to perform reaction monitoring, including NMR and ReactIR are unfortunately not suitable to the study of high-temperature and high-pressure reactions, and also cannot be used to analyze reactions of sensitive organometallic catalysts. Consequently, the study of newly discovered reactions at the molecular level can be exceptionally challenging or impossible. The impact of these limitations can lead to: (i) the development of less efficacious catalytic systems, (ii) the inability to draft and validate accurate hypotheses based on reaction outcomes, and (iii) delays that negatively impact publication in scientific journals, collaborations with academic and industrial partners and fundamental advances in the field.******In contrast, acquisition of this instrument will have immediate impact on the applicants' ability to analyze high-temperature and high-pressure reactions. Due to the combination of Anton-Paar's expertise in Raman spectroscopy and microwave reactors, Raman measurements can now be obtained from outside the sealed tube via a fibre optic probe inserted into the microwave reaction cavity. The microwave will be equipped with an auto-sampler to make reaction screening autonomous and facilitate HQP training. Therefore, productivity would be greatly enhanced as reactions could be run on a nearly 24/7 basis. This instrument will provide a new resource to the ca. 60 HQP that use microwave reactors, a new capability to perform reaction kinetics in batch for others, and the HQP training plan involves a small, diverse team to facilitate training, reaction setup and analysis. This will facilitate adoption of a technology streamlining reaction discovery and optimization within uOttawa, and enable outside users to access this new capability.*****