Heterogeneous catalysis with gold: from small molecule activation to chemical synthesis

Time：2014.5.16（Friday）AM 9：00 

Location：Laboratory of Catalysts and New Materials for Aerospace（306） 

Lecturer：Prof. Yong Cao 

Fudan University, China 

Abstract： 

Catalysis is one of the key technologies for the 21st century for achieving the required sustainability of chemical processes. Critical improvements are based on the development of new catalysts and catalytic concepts. In this context, gold holds great promise because it is more active and selective than other precious metal catalysts at low temperatures. However, gold becomes only chemically and catalytically active when it is nanostructured. In this talk I will provide an overview of our recent research into the green chemical synthesis with supported gold catalysts. First, we show that it is possible to develop a range of novel gold-catalyzed synthetic reactions involving HCOOH and CO/H2O activation. In the second part I will discuss the possibility to maximize the synthetic utility of particular gold catalysts and expand their catalytic applications in green synthetic chemistry. Finally, I will discuss some of the challenges associated with establishing an industrially-viable process based on sustainable gold catalysis. We anticipate that key insights into how simple small molecules are activated for further reaction over Au NPs should lead to a better understanding of gold catalysis and the development of new innovative PGM-free technologies. 

Introduction： 

Dr. Yong Cao received his Ph.D. degree from Fudan University in 2000, and has been working at Fudan since then. In 2005, he was promoted to full Professor. Presently his main research interests focus on the development of fundamental chemistry of heterogeneous metal catalysis and its application to the design of new sustainable processes catalyzed by supported metals. He has been involved in catalytic applications for gold since 2006. He has coauthored over 160 publications, 24 patents and is currently a member of the editorial board of Applied Catalysis A. 

 Contacts：Group 1502 Hui Sun （9161）