Catalysis and Molecular Inorganic Chemistry

The world and the people living on our planet depend on catalysis for their life, well-being and development. A lot of catalysts, be it in (living) bio-systems or in chemical processes in industrial plants, exploit the central role that a metal atom or particle, surrounded by its specific environment (ligands), can play in chemical reactions. It can influence the rate at which a reaction proceeds (speed it up or slow it down). Specifically, it accelerates some reactions and retards other and in this way selectivity for a certain outcome of the reaction is obtained. We can influence this when we have knowledge about the system and in this way we and the catalyst are at thedriver-seat of numerous chemical reactions. It is the choice of metal and its ligand environment  that dictate the way in which the catalyst enables a  reaction and blocks other possibilities.  
Using the tools of MolecularChemistry we are able to influence the structure of catalysts and to steer their(re)activity.

We are in the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Chemistry

The research group that I have the privilege to be part of is one of the two groups in the Catalysis section of the "Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences" (FNWI). We focus on Molecular Chemistry with special attention for Inorganic, Organometallic chemistry and Catalysis.

Some research interests

In order to understand and extend the knowledge in this area, I am working on aspects of catalysis and organometallic chemistry, that is the chemistry of metals surrounded by one or more organic groups (ligands). More specifically, I am very interested in the following interrelated topics:

• Synthesis of new metal compounds with specific properties that were so far unknown.
• Constructing new catalysts from these, using groups attached to the metal (called ligands) that can facilitate reactions with no waste, where each metal atom is used a million (or more) times and then recovered).
• Finding new catalytic reactions and improve existing catalysis by new variants.
• Design catalytic systems that can work in environmentally benign solvents, such as water or liquid carbon dioxide.
• Study how these reactions proceed and learn from it how to steer a reaction in a desired direction.
• Use sectroscopy, especially Magnetic Resonance and Imaging, to study structures of compounds, also under high pressure.

Selected publications

• S. Warsink, S.Y. de Boer, L.M. Jongens, C.-F. Fu, S.-T. Liu, J.-T. Chen, M. Lutz, A.L. Spek, C.J. Elsevier. Synthesis and characterization of Pd(II)-methyl complexes with N-heterocyclic carbene-amine ligands: resistance to reductive elimination. Dalton Transactions , 2009 , 35 , 7080-7086. DOI: 10.1039/b906817a.</a>

• S. Warsink, P. Hauwert, M.A. Siegler, A.L. Spek, C.J. Elsevier. Palladium(0) pre-catalysts with heteroditopic NHC -amine ligands by transmetallation from their Silver(I) complexes. Appl. Organomet. Chem. , 2009 , 23 , 225-228. DOI: 10.1002/aoc.1501

• P. Hauwert, G. Maestri, J.W. Sprengers, M. Catellani, C.J. Elsevier. Transfer Semihydrogenation of Alkynes Catalyzed by a Zero-Valent Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complex. Angew. Chemie, Int. Ed., 2008 , 47 , 3223-3226.

• C.J. Elsevier, A.M. Kluwer. Homogeneous hydrogenation of alkynes and dienes. In: "Handbook of Homogeneous Hydrogenation", J.G. de Vries and C.J. Elsevier (Eds), Wiley-VCH, Darmstadt , Germany , 2007 , Vol 1, Ch.14, pp. 375-411.

• D. Domínguez-Gutiérrez, M. Surtchev, E. Eiser, C.J. Elsevier. First metallosurfactants based on Ru(II) complexes forming inverted aggregates. Nanoletters , 2006 , 6 , 145-147.

• A.M. Kluwer, T.S. Koblenz, Th. Jonischkeit, K. Woelk, C.J. Elsevier. Kinetic and Spectroscopic Studies of the [Palladium(Ar-bian)]-catalyzed Semi-hydrogenation of 4-Octyne. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005 , 127 , 15470-15480.

• J.W. Sprengers, J. Wassenaar, N.D. Clement, K.J. Cavell, C.J. Elsevier. Palladium(N-Heterocyclic-Carbene) Hydrogenation Catalysts. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2005 , 44, 2026-2029.

• J.M. Ernsting, S. Gaemers, C.J. Elsevier. 103Rh NMR spectroscopy and its application to rhodium chemistry (review). Magn. Reson. Chem ., 2004 , 42, 721-736.

• A.M. Kluwer, C.J. Elsevier, M. Bühl, M. Lutz, A.L. Spek. Zerovalent palladium complexes with monodentate nitrogen sigma-donor ligands. Angew. Chem.  Int. Ed., 2003 , 40, 2319.