Research Projects

In recent years, transition metal-free catalysis has emerged as a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach due to its cost-effectiveness and reduced reliance on scarce resources. One of the most challenging aspects of such metal-free catalysis is to mimic transition metals during catalysis. This becomes even more challenging if an inert gaseous molecule such as nitrogen is considered. It is generally perceived that N2 activation needs a transition metal, and such a dogma is currently undergoing a paradigm shift because of recent discoveries on non-transition metals mediated nitrogen activation under non-catalytic conditions. Catalytic N2 reduction into ammonia under transition metal-free conditions is yet to be discovered, and this proposal aims to achieve such a goal. We propose the use of two-electron-reduced high-energy molecules which will further be photo-excited to achieve very strong reducing properties enabling the reduction of one of the most challenging molecules, N2. We will also extend such catalytic concepts to other inert molecules such as CO2, N2O and poly-fluorinated molecules.