Small Molecules Activation

Workshop of the Joint Doctoral Programme in Chemistry

Humankind heavily depends on fossil fuel resources which however, will become severely limited in the near future. Sustainability is one of the pillars for the current and the upcoming development of our society. In this context, a great deal of attention from the scientific community is addressed to the discovery of new alternative, environmentally friendly, strategies to tackle the sustainable synthesis of chemicals and the energy production.
One of the main tools to achieve this ambitious target is based on the activation of small molecules including H₂, O₂, H₂O, CO_2, CO, N₂, and NH₃, which may act as sources of H, O, C, and N, respectively, to build up useful compounds and intermediates.
Due to their intrinsic stability, small molecules require highly efficient activation approaches which pose a fascinating, though challenging, issue that gains interest from both the academic and the industrial standpoints. The integration of inter-sectorial expertise within chemical and physical-chemical areas is pivotal to address this topic.

Thursday February 15th 2018

11:00 Welcome opening

11.15 - 13.00 Conference
Prof. Matthias Beller
Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse, Rostock Small Molecules Activation: Teaching
Non-Noble Metals to Replace Precious Catalysts

13.00 Lunch 14.30 - 16.15 Conference
Prof. Alessandro Fortunelli
CNR-ICCOM, Pisa and Caltech, Mat. & Proc. Simulat. Ctr, Pasadena, CA, USA
Computational Modeling of Small Molecule Activation: Oxygen Reduction Reaction and
Haber-Bosch

16.15 - 16.45 Coffee break

16.45 - 18.30 Conference
Prof. Arjan Kleij
ICIQ-Tarragona, Spain
Catalytic Valorization of Carbon Dioxide and Beyond in Organic Chemistry Space

Dinner

Friday February 16th 2018

9.00 - 10.45 Conference
Prof. Thibault Cantat
Institut Rayonnement-Matière de Saclay (IRAMIS)
Catalytic Strategies for the Reduction of C–O Bonds in CO2 and Lignin

10.45 - 11.15 Coffee break

11.15 - 12.45 Meeting groups

12.45 Concluding remarks

13:00 Lunch