Leibniz‐Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT): From Basic Research to Practical Applications

Abstract

Matthias Beller, director of the Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse (LIKAT) in Rostock, Germany, provides an overview of the research in the institute since its establishment in 1952. Find out more about the institute's research in the LIKAT virtual issue. As a result of global population growth, climate change, and limited fossil resources, humanity faces significant challenges in the coming decades that can only be solved through new technologies and more sustainable production processes. Many of our current problems can be addressed by improved chemical transformations, which offer principle solutions for the future rather than being part of the problem, as is often seen today. In this respect, catalysis – the science of the acceleration of elementary chemical processes – allows reactions to take place in a way that spares resources, increases the desired product yields, avoids by-products, and reduces the specific energy requirements. Only by applying high-performance catalysts will it be possible to meet the global demand for efficient usage of all resources. Currently, around nine out of ten chemical products make use of catalysis during their manufacture. In addition, as well as in the field of chemistry, catalysts are also increasingly applied in the fields of life science, clean energy, and environmental protection. Thus, catalysis is a science that spans across a range of disciplines, and contributes to the process of finding solutions for the grand challenges of the 21st century. To further develop this field of science, it is clearly essential to form interdisciplinary collaborations between inorganic, organic, technical, theoretical, and physical chemistry, as well as nano- and material sciences, engineering, and process technology. More than 65 years of catalytic “know-how” forms the basis of the current expertise of the Leibniz-Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT). In 1952, two professors from the University of Rostock – Günther Rienäcker (heterogeneous catalysis) and Wolfgang Langenbeck (homogeneous catalysis) – came together to establish the Research Institute for Catalysis in Rostock. This became the first institute in Europe exclusively devoted to catalysis research, which soon became part of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR. In 1959, the two fields of catalysis research separated for what would be nearly 50 years. Homogeneous, namely organometallic catalysis, remained in Rostock and led to the creation of the Institute for Organic Catalysis Research. Heterogeneous catalysis moved to Berlin and became the focus of the Institute of Inorganic Catalysis Research. Later on, under the direction of Horst Pracejus in Rostock, fundamental work on asymmetric catalysis and organometallic chemistry was performed, while in Berlin research in various areas such as material sciences, heterogeneous catalysis, and organic synthesis continued. After the German Academy of Sciences was disbanded in 1991 as a result of the country's reunification, the Center for Heterogeneous Catalysis was created in 1992 in Berlin. Two years later this center joined with three other chemistry centers and formed the Institute for Applied Chemistry Berlin-Adlershof (ACA), which was directed initially by Bernhard Lücke and then Manfred Baerns. At the same time, the Rostock Catalysis Institute, led by Günther Oehme, became a state research institute of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania after the closure of the Academy of Sciences. From 1992 to 1997, the Max-Planck-Society, through the establishment of two research groups, “Complex Catalysis” (Uwe Rosenthal) and “Asymmetric Catalysis” (Rüdiger Selke), contributed significantly to the stabilization and modernization of this institute. After a very positive evaluation of its research efforts under the direction of Matthias Beller by the German Council of Science and Humanities, the institute became part of the Leibniz Association on 01 January 2003. Nearly three years later, with the merger of the homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis institutes from Berlin and Rostock, respectively, the Leibniz-Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) was legally recognized. As an affiliated research institute of the University of Rostock, LIKAT has the legal form of a registered association, and as such includes a general membership meeting, a Board of Trustees, and a Scientific Advisory Council. In the group of Matthias Beller, “Applied Homogeneous Catalysis”, important aspects of molecular-defined and nanostructured catalysts, especially of transition-metal catalysts are investigated. Fundamental strategic aims of their research are the development of new environmentally benign redox catalysts and synthetic methodologies (aminations, carbonylations), as well as their application in industry. The transfer of results from model studies and mechanistic investigations to specific chemical products or processes is a particularly important aspect here. Methodologies which have been studied in the last years were carbonylation reactions, redox transformations, aminations, and applications towards alternative energy technologies. The current research in the “Heterogeneous Catalytic Processes” department (Sebastian Wohlrab) focuses largely on: (i) oxidation catalysis (selective oxidation, ammoxidation, acetoxylation, epoxidation, oxidative dehydrogenation) and (ii) the use of biomass for chemical and energy applications (conversion of triglycerides, fatty acids and glycerol, deoxygenation of biomass, use of carbon dioxide in chemical syntheses). Complementary to these works, in the group of Hans de Vries, various aspects of “Catalysis with Renewable Resources” are under investigation. More specifically, new catalytic reactions for the conversion of renewable resources into chemicals and fuels are developed. A broad spectrum of methods and techniques are applied for this purpose: From the synthesis of porous inorganic materials that are used as heterogeneous catalysts or as selective membranes, to the development of novel homogeneous transition-metal-based catalysts. Notably, catalytic reactions are optimized by the proper use of chemical technology such as flow chemistry, micro-structured reactors, and novel separation devices. Most of the research work described here is performed in specific projects with a dedicated lifetime, often in cooperation with industry or other academic partners. Apart from that, it is the long-term goal of the institute to contribute to effective catalyst design, based on a rational approach beyond trial and error. Undoubtedly, this requires a sound knowledge of the relationship between the structural features of a given catalyst and its role in the target transformation on a molecular basis. Such direct insight can be obtained by analyzing catalysts at work, under conditions as close as possible to those applied in a true catalytic process. These objectives are pursued in the department “Catalytic in situ Studies” of Angelika Brückner. This group focuses on the development, adaptation, and use of different analytic methods to monitor catalysts in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic reactions; this involves on-line detection of catalytic activity/selectivity (operando spectroscopy) in gas-solid, gas-liquid, liquid-solid and gas-liquid-solid systems, as well as during different stages in catalyst synthesis (in situ spectroscopy). An important element of their research activities is the in situ investigation of electron-transfer mechanisms in photo- and electrocatalytic reactions, such as hydrogen evolution by water splitting, which also includes the adaptation and development of suitable spectroelectrochemical methods. Over the past decade, special attention has been dedicated to simultaneous couplings of several operando methods. This not only saves time and money, but also gathers accessible information, and reduces errors that may arise from applying different experimental conditions in differently designed reaction cells. To complement these methodologies, in the department of “Catalyst Discovery and Reaction Engineering” (David Linke), high-throughput technologies, engineering tools, and mechanistic studies are explored. For the latter topic, the main aim is to elaborate strategies that enable the coupling of microscopic mechanistic (micro-kinetic) and physicochemical knowledge of complex heterogeneous reactions with macroscopic observations in chemical reactors (Evgenii Kondratenko). Recently, Jennifer Strunk was appointed professor at LIKAT and the University of Rostock. Her research aim is to supplement methods and technologies in catalysis with her existing knowledge in photocatalysis. Accordingly, the new department “Heterogeneous Photocatalysis” was created in 2017. In this department, the reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol or methane is studied, with the aim of implementing ecologically and economically feasible photocatalytic processes on an industrial scale. An important objective is to provide a detailed understanding of the underlying fundamental photophysical, catalytic, and electrochemical processes. This insight should serve as a basis for the development of improved photocatalysts and devices viable for large-scale applications. For more than 40 years, the institute has had a long-standing interest of the coordination chemistry of early and late transition-metal complexes in homogeneous catalysis. Among others, this tradition is continued in the department of Torsten Beweries, where different fundamental and applied aspects of titanium and zirconium metallacycles are investigated. Moreover, the activation of small molecules and dehydrogenation and dehydrocoupling reactions for hydrogen storage are investigated with late transition-metals. Finally, detailed mechanistic studies and catalyst developments for asymmetric hydrogenations are performed (Detlef Heller). Based on modern synthetic organometallic chemistry, a fundamental understanding of structure–activity relationships is a key issue. Industrially relevant hydrogenations and hydroformylations play an important role in the department of Armin Börner. Aside from the preparation of synthetic fragrances, odor-producing substances, and agrochemicals; in particular, hydroformylations are studied for the production of bulk aldehydes. The advantage of homogeneous catalysts in these processes lies in the potential to run the reaction in a highly chemoselective, regioselective, and even stereoselective manner. In the last decade, most of the work was dedicated to the synthesis of new and patent-free phosphorus(III) compounds, and their application in rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylations. Moreover, a better description of catalysis by investigating mechanistic aspects and observing the concentration of organometallic intermediates in a time-resolved manner is also pursued, using in situ HP-NMR and in situ FTIR spectroscopy. Based on these works, over 25 patent applications have been filed together with industrial partners (such as Evonik Industries) in the past five years (Detlef Selent). On the more fundamental side in the carbonylation department, reactions are applied for the preparation of various heterocycles (Xiao-Feng Wu), such as the synthesis of flavones, furanones, benzoxazinones, among others. Most recently, Paul Kamer joined the institute and the new group “Bio-inspired Homo- and Heterogeneous Catalysis” was created. The main objective of his team is the development of new bio-inspired catalytic processes. Currently, their major activity is in the field of ligand synthesis based on phosphorus donor atoms by rational design assisted by molecular modelling. Such ligand design is also supported by thorough mechanistic (in situ) studies of catalytic reactions to acquire insight into structure–activity relationships. Recently, three junior research groups have also started their independent scientific career in Rostock, working on “Catalytic Functionalization” (Jola Pospech), “Small Molecule Activation” (Christian Hering-Junghans), and “Polymer Chemistry and Catalysis” (Oscar Esteban Mejia Vargas). For a long time, the institute's approach has simply been the combination of application-oriented basic research and its technical implementation. However, at the beginning of the millennium this strategy was expanded to link homogeneous catalytic research with heterogeneous catalysis, and to develop further synergetic combinations of catalytic processes. In the coming years, this expertise will in particular be applied to the optimal usage of resources. In this way, we hope to further contribute to the development of green and practical catalysis, which continues to be important for the sustainable development of our societies.