In-situ vibrational spectroscopy of solid-liquid catalytic interfaces

COLL 476

Christopher T. Williams, Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Swearingen Engineering Center, Columbia, SC 29201
Solid-catalyzed liquid-phase reactions are poised to play an increasingly important role in the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. When compared to currently employed homogeneous catalytic methods, heterogeneous catalysts can offer some advantages, including ease of separation and handling, and possible reduced use of solvent. As a result, there is a need to develop approaches that will allow in-situ investigation of solid-liquid catalytic interfaces. This talk will discuss the application of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IRS) and total internal reflection sum-frequency spectroscopy (TIR-SFS) to this challenging problem. Some background on these approaches will be provided, along with the experimental considerations for catalytic studies. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach will be highlighted using recent results from our laboratory, including aldehyde dissociation on Pt/Al2O3 in water, and nitrile adsorption/hydrogenation on Al2O3 and Pt/Al2O3 in hexane. The prospects of using these approaches for future in-situ catalytic investigations will be briefly discussed.