Delivering New Catalysts for Molecules and Materials

Molecules that have been designed and prepared by humans, impact on almost every aspect of daily life. For example, some of the major areas in which they are used, include nutrition, clothing, medicines and fuels. It is therefore not surprising that there already exists a great variety of different ways to make the majority of molecules that we need. However, many of the traditional ways of preparing molecules are increasingly at odds with the demands of modern society. For example, environment concerns mean that we now need to be able to make the same molecules without generating unwanted, sometimes toxic, side-products; constraints from the economy mean that we need to be able to make the same molecules at a fraction of the original cost; and dwindling supplies of certain natural resources mean that we need to be able to make the same molecules but start from alternative, more readily available feedstocks. This proposal will develop new catalysts and new catalytic transformations to address many of these challenges. In particular, transition metal catalysis has the ability to deliver new pathways to molecules that are simply not possible using other methods. This is one way that allows new ways of making molecules to be discovered. In addition, catalytic reactions often produce less waste, require less energy and deliver more efficient reactions. In short, catalytic processes can address many of the issues needed to deliver the sustainable preparation of new molecules. The research described in this proposal will deliver new catalysts, and catalytic transformations that will meet the exacting standards needed to become useable processes; they will employ readily available feedstocks, deliver pure products in high yields, be operationally simple to perform and use only small amounts of the actual catalysts.

The catalytic processes we are targeting will deliver molecules of intrinsic value. This is achievable by exploring processes that are either amenable to large volume application, for example in the fine chemical or petrochemical industries, or alternatively, ones that operate at smaller volumes but deliver very high value products. These high value products are the types of molecules needed by the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. We will focus on both types of process. We will also begin to apply the developed chemistry to the preparation of new materials, by developing new polymerisation processes. The new materials we hope to prepare have potential applications in bio-medical devices and as new plastics.

The proposed methodology will provide new catalysts and catalytic methods for the synthesis of a wide range of high-value molecules based on the use of basic feedstocks. The types of molecules we will deliver using our new catalysts are established as important constituents in a wide variety of biologically important molecules and in important materials. The proposed methods are direct, i.e., a single step operation, and uses easy to handle reagents. The beneficiaries will be chemists involved in research, either academic or industrial, who require access to these types of molecules. In particular this will include chemists involved in pharmaceutical and agrochemical research as well as biomedical scientists. Our new catalysts will provide far more attractive routes to existing classes of molecules, but will also allow access to compounds that have been previously inaccessible. Materials scientists exploring the properties of polymers will also benefit from new and more efficient means to access certain types of existing polymers, and also from the preparation of new materials with as yet unknown properties.

In a ten-year timeframe, the successful realisation of the proposed research should see the catalytic methods we have developed being routinely used by researchers in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries to prepare molecules for evaluation. This is a very real possibility, as not only will these new catalytic methods allow the one-step preparation of valuable molecules, these transformations will be achieved using simple experimental procedures that will not require specialist equipment or training. On a longer-term, 50 year, timeframe, molecules originally prepared using these new catalytic methods could be in the market place and being used to treat diseases and/or protect crops. The longer-term could also see the developed catalytic methods making the transition from 'discovery' chemistry tools, to being employed by process groups in the manufacture of these important molecules. A second, longer term impact could be the use of new material prepared using our new catalysts being used in biomedical devices, or as new specialty plastics.