Conventional solid metal catalysts, usually synthesized using wet impregnation strategies, are almost always quasi-spherical particles mainly terminated by low-energy surface facets, such as the (111) surface for fcc crystals and the (0001) surface for hcp crystals, and supported on high surface area materials. The diameter of these metal particles is from a few tens to a few hundreds of nanome...

Mesoporous and conventional Fe-containing ZSM-5 catalysts (0.5–8 wt% Fe) were prepared using a simple impregnation method and tested in NO selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with NH3. It was found that mesoporous Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts exhibit higher SCR activities than comparable conventional catalysts. Furthermore, conventional Fe-ZSM-5 catalysts have maximum activity at ~ 2.5 wt% Fe while for t...

A novel strategy for large-scale synthesis of shape- and size-controlled mesoporous Pt nanospheres (MPNs) through a slow reduction reaction in the presence of surfactant is reported here for the first time. The slow reduction reaction exclusively results in well-defined mesoporous architectures distinctly different from the dendritic constructions reported previously. More importantly, abundant...

The direct experimental evidence shows that ethylbenzene disproportionation is a transition state shape selective reaction on zeolites: a bimolecular reaction mechanism via diphenylethane-mediated pathway on large-pore zeolites X and Y (ca. 0.74 nm) and a monomolecular reaction mechanism on medium-pore zeolites ZSM-5 (ca. 0.56 nm) via the ethoxy-mediated intermolecular ethyl group transfer. The...

This article addresses the fundamental question of whether concepts from semiconductor physics can be applied to describe the working mode of heterogeneous oxidation catalysts and whether they can be even used to discriminate between selective and unselective reaction pathways. Near-ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was applied to the oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride on...

Olefin metathesis is a prevailing method for the construction of organic molecules. Recent advancements in olefin metathesis have focused on stereoselective transformations. Ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts have had a particularly pronounced impact in the area of stereoselective olefin metathesis. The development of three categories of Z-selective olefin metathesis catalysts has made Z-ole...

Vanillin is one of the most commonly used natural products, which can also be produced from lignin-derived feedstocks. The chemical synthesis of vanillin is well-established in large-scale production from petrochemical-based starting materials. To overcome this problem, lignin-derived monomers (such as eugenol, isoeugenol, ferulic acid etc.) have been effectively used in the past few years. How...

N-Aryl,N-alkyl N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ruthenium metathesis catalysts are highly selective toward the ethenolysis of methyl oleate, giving selectivity as high as 95% for the kinetic ethenolysis products over the thermodynamic self-metathesis products. The examples described herein represent some of the most selective NHC-based ruthenium catalysts for ethenolysis reactions to date. Furtherm...

Previously, we reported the first substrate-selective artificial protease by using myoglobin as the substrate. Target-selective peptide-cleaving catalysts can be used as drugs if the target is a protein or an oligopeptide related to a disease. For example, a peptide-cleaving catalyst specifically recognizing HIV protease and rapidly cleaving it into two pieces can be used as a new drug for AIDS...