news in brief

News in Brief provides capsule summaries of interesting news items from literature publications, vendor information, press releases and reports. Submit your contributions to J. Armor, 1608 Barkwood Drive, Orefield, PA 18069; Fax: +1-610-366-8416; email [email protected]. A celebration of catalysis driving greener processes At the fifth annual lecture of the UK-based virtual pressure grouping, the Institute of Applied Catalysis (iAc), Sir John Meurig Thomas was the guest speaker. Before an invited audience on 6 June at London’s Royal Institution, the scene of Michael Faraday’s famous public lectures, Sir John reviewed the development of many aspects of catalysis during his lifetime. It showed clearly how catalysis is contributing to greener processing. The environment has been a constant background to Sir John’s career. Early on he began to use benign clays as catalysts, and now he is creating—and elucidating the structures of—catalysts with precisely tailored geometries. He began with an admission: for one or two centuries after the arrival of the industrial revolution there had been “a profligate use of natural resources and scant regard for impact on the environment.” Then, 35 years ago, California began to legislate on motor cars and hydrocarbon emissions. “Now the notion of thinking globally and acting locally has taken root,” he said. And in meeting the challenges of pollution and consumer demand—both driven by world population growth—“applied catalysis is and always has been the backbone of the chemical industry,” he said. Before romping through his field, Sir John sounded a word of warning: the solution of one environmental problem can create another problem later. An example? MTBE—made, using humble clay catalysts, as a replacement for lead in gasoline so many years ago—is frowned upon today because it leaks into the water table. Then he examined the “applied catalysis landscape” to identify key areas: Fischer-Tropsch processes for sulphur-free fuel; biocatalysis and biotechnology; heterogenising homogeneous catalysts to get the best of both; solvent-free catalytic processes; in situ generation of hazardous reagents; high speed screening; solid acid catalysts; biomass as feedstock. He began by picking out Shell’s “huge leap” in Malaysia with Fischer-Tropsch production of sulphur-free kerosene. It’s sold in Japan and is “almost as clear as, some would say clearer than, lager”. In biocatalysis the disadvantages, Sir John felt, are gradually disappearing. “I read recently that 136 Volume 6, no. 4, 2002

Sir John Meurig Thomas addressing the Institute of Applied Catalysis

there’s a massive 220,000-ton plant producing polylactic acid from corn by biocatalysis. For the polymer industry it’s already happening.” Success with the anchoring of enzymes on a high-area inert solid while retaining their vital properties, site-directed mutogenesis and directed Darwinian evolution delayed him briefly. “If Nature doesn’t give you an enzyme with the exact properties you need, then evolve it to do the job better.” A few words on heterogenised homogeneous catalysts— for example, palladium-based catalysts on a long tether anchored in the pores of a mesoporous silica to give high enantioselectivity. Ionic liquids and supercritical carbon dioxide got pretty short shrift: why not run solvent-free? Design a microporous material with the active catalytic site placed in such a way that only one product can be formed. Nasty chemicals? How about perbenzoic acid, formed in situ by clever catalysis within aluminophosphates, replacing horrid hydrogen peroxide for crucial oxidations? Or hydroxylamine made in situ in a microporous catalyst for benign caprolactam production? Sir John got into solid acids: clays with strategic atoms substituted by metals to achieve superior catalytic effects.

platinum thrust into a nicely-judged mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. Nothing. Then a Johnson Matthey sample, much lighter and with a much larger surface area. Bang! Sir John steps down this year as Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge, but continues his research both in Cambridge and in London. iAc in the form of CEO Keith Guy and chairman Geoff Evans presented him with a memento of his day: a cut-glass rosebowl.

News in brief

A lot depends on the passages in the catalyst structure near active sites being of the right shape to allow only the required reaction, and now there is de novo design of such templates on computer. High-throughput screening is OK for relatively simple challenges but, he emphasised, rational design of catalysts is the way to tackle more complicated cases. Sir John rounded off in a blizzard of bimetallic clusters, fuel cells and blue sky ideas, while animated graphics—whizzing molecules in through pores and out, transformed, as desirable products—really came into their own. In best Royal Institution traditions, Sir John ended with a bang. This one showed the power of a properlydesigned and prepared catalyst. He had a rod of metallic

Peter Varey Peter Varey Associates, [email protected]

Awards U.S. National Medal of Technology to Chemist John Ewen and the Dow Chemical Company The importance of catalysis and catalyst chemistry was again recognized through the U.S.’s highest national award for technical achievement—the National Medal of Technology—which is presented by President George W. Bush at White House ceremonies. The Medal is given annually to individuals, teams or companies for accomplishments in the innovation, development, commercialization and management of technology, as evidenced by the establishment of new or significantly improved products, processes or services. Chemist John Ewen was recognized for his work in metallocenes; and Dow Chemical for its work in metallocenes as well as broader technological fields based on their groundbreaking and insightful advances of technology. The award cites Dow for its development in metallocene-based polymers and for its electronics advances, such as its SiLK dielectric polymer, and work in light-emitting polymers. (Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, Dow Chemical, Chemweek and The Catalyst Group.) The Catalysis Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada announced that Professor Warren Piers, Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, has been awarded the 2002 Canadian Catalysis Lectureship Award. Professor Piers is noted for his work in synthetic organometallic chemistry, including the development of new olefin polymerization catalysts and co-catalysts, and the

development of new catalytic processes using early transition metal organometallic compounds. In addition, Professor Harold Kung, Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University (Evanstown, Illinois), has been awarded the 2002 Cross-Canada Catalysis Lectureship Award. Professor Kung is recognized for his work in the selective oxidation of light alkanes, NOx reduction in an oxidizing atmosphere, supported Au catalysis and hydrocarbon cracking over acidic zeolites. Gabor Somorjai was named University Professor and received the National Medal of Science Gabor Somorjai, Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (USA), has been named University Professor. He becomes only the 23rd individual in the entire University of California system to be honored with this prestigious title. Previous holders of the distinction include Glenn T. Seaborg and Melvin Calvin. Gabor was also among a group of 15 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Science. This is the highest award for science and is presented by President Bush. As Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation, said in 1998: “These are superstars in their respective fields. They have contributed a lifetime of stunning discoveries. We can only recognize them once with a science medal, but we applaud them daily for their continual contributions to humankind, to the reservoir of scientific knowledge and for the impact they have on the students they mentor and educate along the way.”

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