FineCat 2014

By Mario Pagliaro

The Book of Abstract of the 2014 edition of Europe's premiere meeting on heterogeneus catalysis for fine chemicals. With the lectures of David Cole-Hamilton, Serge Kaliaguine, Paolo Fornasiero and Jose Antonio Lopez-Sanchez.

Not-to-be missed resource to improve and update knowledge in the field that is reshaping the game in the fine and specialty chemicals industry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mario Pagliaro
• Release date: Apr 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9788869093951

Book preview

L.P.

The FineCat Symposium

Following the successful 2012 and 2013 Symposia featuring the lectures of Graham Hutchings, Gadi Rothenberg, Tyler McQuade and Claudio Bianchini, the 3rd FineCat Symposium will be held on April 2-3, 2014 in the splendid conference venue of the Steri Palace, hall of Palermo's University Rectorate.

The meeting -- whose idea was born out of the 2011 themed issue of Catalysis Science & Technology, «Heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemicals» -- aims to provide good learning and networking opportunities among researchers working at the development of efficient solid catalysts for the clean production of fine chemicals.

The joint Organizing Committee (the Institute of Nanostructured Materials of Italy’s Research Council (CNR) and Palermo's University DEIM Department), issued a call for Oral and Poster presentation, within one of the Symposium themes:

•  Green catalytic processes

•  Organo- and biocatalysis

•  Photocatalysis for organic synthesis

•  Asymmetric heterogeneous catalysis

•  Atom economy and clean technology

•  Green reaction media

•  Catalysis under flow conditions

Research in heterogeneous catalysis for fine chemicals synthesis, preparative chemistry and drugs discovery, is flourishing; as heterogeneous catalysis emerges as the valuable tool in making the fine chemicals industry environmentally and economically more sustainable.

Fine chemicals -- polyfunctional molecules with specific properties imparting them high added value -- indeed, in most cases are in synthesized via highly selective homogeneous synthetic methods, most of which were stoichiometric, and not catalytic.

Ten years after the highlight paper,¹ of Cole-Hamilton in which David lamented that no heterogenized homogeneous catalysts was known to have found practical application, we witness a number of commercial processes that use efficient and highly selective solid mediators.²

New solid catalysts can not only be easily separated, recovered, and recycled; but also effectively applied to continuous chemical syntheses carried out under flow, thereby opening the route to flow chemistry made practical both on the lab and on industrial scale.

In the meanwhile, too, biomass feedstock -- glycerol from biodiesel and fatty alcohols, for example -- is emerging to replace raw materials of petrochemical origin, thereby closing the materials cycle that makes processes truly sustainable.³

Research presented at FineCat 2014 will hopefully further advance this progress.

Showcasing work of some the leading researchers in the field -- including eminent chemists David Cole-Hamilton, Serge Kaliaguine, Paolo Fornasiero and José Antonio Lopez-Sanchez -- the FineCat 2014 Symposium will cover some of the latest developments in field. We are thankful to all delegates for the excellent Abstracts received.

The 2014 Symposium

We are pleased to dedicate the 2014 edition of FineCat to the memory of eminent analytical chemist Vincenzo Romano. Enzo's chemical insight, wit and humanity are continuing to bear fruits.

David Cole-Hamilton, School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, presents his original insight into flow catalysis using supported homogeneous catalysts, clearly an hot topic in industry where a number of pharmaceutical and CMO (contract manufacturing organizations) already make use of manufacturing processes carried out under flow.

This topic is addressed also by the oral presentation of Claudio Evangelisti, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Molecolari, CNR, who describes the use of Pd nanoparticles supported on polyvinylpyridine in C-C coupling reaction under flow.

Serge Kaliaguine, Department of Chemical Engineering, Université Laval, Québec, describes new Ti-SBA-15 silica epoxidation catalysts. The use of functionalized mesoporous silicas is also dealt with by Rosaria Ciriminna, Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati, CNR, who describes the newly developed catalyst for the enhanced conversion of furfuryl alcohol into butyl levulinate.

José Antonio Lopez-Sanchez, Chemistry Department, University of Liverpool, reviews the opportunities and the open challenges for catalytically converting biomass into value added chemicals, including of fine and speciality