Maurice Brookhart
Department of Chemistry,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Alkane Metathesis: A Route to Tomorrow’s Fuels?
There are now numerous transition metal-based systems known that will activate
carbon-hydrogen bonds of alkanes via oxidative addition reactions. Only a few such
reactions have been incorporated into viable, efficient catalytic cycles. This presentation
will focus on the use of pincer iridium complexes in catalytic transformations in which CH bond activation is the key step. These processes will include: 1. intermolecular
hydrogen transfer reactions as a method for introducing carbon-carbon double bonds into
alkanes and 2. coupling such reactions with alkene metathesis which provides a method
for converting linear alkanes to alkanes of higher and lower carbon number. This alkane
metathesis reaction can potentially be used for converting alkanes generated via the
Fischer-Tropsch process to alkanes in the diesel range, thus providing increased
efficiency for producing transportation fuels from coal and biomass. Homogeneous and
supported catalysts will be described and mechanistic aspects of these processes will be
highlighted.