Rosalind Walsh

• Mchem (Hons) Chemistry
• Heteroatom Donor Mesoporous Ionic Liquid Functionalised Silica: Supports for Nanoparticle Catalysis

A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed. For reactions with more than one possible product a catalyst improves the selectivity for one product. This project was to develop a new generation of porous silicas, decorated with donor groups, as supports for nanoparticle catalysts. The silica framework provides a robust architecture to protect the catalyst while additional donor groups interact with the surface of the nanoparticles to modify selectivity and reactivity and also prevent metal leaching. The catalyst will be able to reduce a C=O group in a molecule which also contains a C=C group, leaving the C=C intact – currently a difficult reaction due to the similar reactivities of the groups and the expensive loss of metal catalyst. This catalyst would allow multiple reaction cycles without metal leaching, a faster reaction rate and lower temperatures making it a much more sustainable process.

 Funding source: Royal Society of Chemistry

 Supervisor: Dr Simon Doherty