Please join Yale Chemistry for a Silliman Seminar with Prof. Aaron Sadow, David C. Henderson Professor of Chemistry, Iowa State University and Senior Scientist, Ames National Laboratory.
Abstract: We are investigating catalytic materials and methods that regulate the cleavage of C–H bonds or C–C bonds in polyolefins, to introduce functional groups at selected positions or to create narrow distributions of shorter, partially deconstructed chains. This approach involves the design and synthesis of 3D porous inorganic metal oxide architectures which contain catalytic sites in well-defined positions in the material, along with spectroscopic investigations and theoretical models of polymer adsorption and translocation in the pores. In parallel, we are developing catalytic sites and reactions that break C–C and C–H bonds in aliphatic hydrocarbon polymers. As these catalytic sites are incorporated into 3D architectures and studied in polyolefin deconstruction reactions, our team is developing theoretical, kinetic models and in situ spectroscopic methods for studying the ‘macromolecular’ mechanisms that influence the average chain lengths of products and the dispersity of product distributions.
Such approaches using micro or mesoporous materials can lead to processive catalysis, whereby a polymer chain is adsorbed into the pores of the inorganic oxide and is successively cleaved into smaller fragments without release of the ever-shortening polymer chain. Nanoparticles, responsible for C-C cleavage, localized in the pores at uniform distances from the pore mouth, then cleave polyolefin chains into semi-regular smaller chain lengths. We will present our studies of these architectures and catalytic reactions in the selective deconstruction of polyolefins. For more information on Prof. Sadow’s research: Aaron D Sadow
Hosted by Prof. Pat Holland.
Sponsored by the Mrs. Hepsa Ely Silliman Memorial Fund.
