Pincer organometallic complexes in heterogeneous catalysis for organic synthesis and CO2 conversion

Abstract

The use of accessible synthesis and tunable catalysts is of great interest in both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. In transition metal catalysis, immobilized metal complexes and low-coordinate metal-supported catalysts lie in the interface of these extremes and have in common the ruling effect of metal-support interactions. While these interactions are highly valued in the metal-supported variant, they have only been superficially studied for immobilized metal complexes, especially for supports different from silica and alumina. In this context, this project aims to explore the use of homogeneous pincer transition-metal Pd-organometallic complexes as precursors for both aforementioned catalyst variants, evaluating the effectiveness of the immobilization technique employed, either attaching the support surface to the ligand or directly to the metal center via surface organometallic chemistry. Special attention will be drawn to the different metal-support interactions acting on the catalyst formulations. Additionally, the catalysts synthesized will be applied to the strategic reactions of CO2 conversion and carbon-carbon bond forming cross-coupling reactions, ubiquitous in modern organic chemistry, in both batch and continuous settings.