At present, although heterogeneous catalysis is used in the fine chemicals industry, only two systems are widely used; these are Raney nickel and palladium/carbon. Much of the reason for this lies in the history of catalysis where a great deal of the research effort was directed at large scale gas phase processes involving relatively simple molecules. However with the drive to cleaner chemical processes the need for new catalytic process for fine chemical manufacture, where the amount of effluent per tonne of product is orders of magnitude higher than that for a commodity chemical, is essential for future development. At present, however there is little or no understanding of the operation of heterogeneous catalysts in three phase systems with complex organic molecules, e.g. solvent effects are widely recognised but poorly understood. Therefore our interest in this area is to increase our understanding of the processes occurring in Fine Chemical reactions.
Catalytic Reactions of Heterocycles: The Hydrogenation of Furan over Palladium Catalysts. "Catalysis of Organic Reactions", p559 - 564, (Frank E Herkes, ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York., (1998). (with I.Huntingdon and N. Hussain)
A Study of Nitrobenzene Hydrogenation over Palladium/Carbon Catalysts. Catalysis Letters, 84, 205 - 208 (2002). (with E.A. Gelder and C.M. Lok)
The Hydrogenation of para-Toluidine over Rh/Silica: The Effect of Metal Particle Size and Support Texture. J. Catal., 241, 417 – 425, (2006). (with K.T. Hindle, D. Stirling, and G. Webb)One of the main aspects of this area of catalysis is the need to react one type of functional group in the presence of others. Hence we have examined the hydrogenation of complex molecules, with multiple functional groups, in the presence of other reactants.Selective Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde over Supported Copper Catalysts. J. Catal., 168, 301 - 314 (1997). (with A.Chambers, D.Stirling, and G.Webb)
The Effect of Co-adsorbates on Activity/Selectivity in the Hydrogenation of Aromatic Alkynes. Heterogeneous Catalysis and Fine Chemicals IV, "Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis", Vol. 108, p305 - 311, (H.U.Blaser, A.Baiker, and R.Prins, eds.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, (1997). (with H.Hardy, G.J.Kelly, and L.A.Shaw).
The Mechanism of Ethanol Amination over Nickel Catalysts. "Catalysis of Organic Reactions", p.453 - 460. (Dennis Morrell, ed.), Marcel Dekker, New York, (2002). (with J.R. Jones, A.P. Sharratt, L.F. Gladden, R.J. Cross, and G. Webb)Identification, by Selective Poisoning, of Active Sites on Ni/Al2O3 for Hydrogenation and Isomerisation of Cis-2- Pentenenitrile. Catalysis Today, 114, 372 – 376, (2006). (with A.S. Canning and S. Mitchell)
We are also interested in developing our understanding of the liquid phase hydrogenation of high molecular weight alkynes. These molecules do not at this stage give predictable reaction patterns and show remarkable variations in reactivity and selectivity. We are continuing to study these systems to obtain a better understanding of the processes occurring.
The Hydrogenation of Alkynes over Palladium Catalysts. Current Topics in Catalysis, 1, 47 - 59 (1997). (with G.J.Kelly)
Control of Activity and Selectivity in Alkyne Hydrogenation: Effect of Competitive Reactions. Appl. Catalysis A, 237, 201 - 209 (2002). (C.A. Hamilton, G.J. Kelly, R.R. Spence, and D. de Bruin)
Hydrogenation of Unsaturated Hydrocarbons - 40 years on: Hydrogenation of 1,3-Pentadiene over Pd/alumina. Catalysis Today, 128, 47–51, (2007). (S.D. Jackson and A. Monaghan)