Project description
Abundant, benign and cost-effective aluminium in highly reactive catalysts
Transition metals are unique in that they can have valence electrons (electrons that can participate in the formation of chemical bonds) in subshells and not only in the outer shell. Since they easily donate or accept electrons, they are widely used to catalyse reactions in industrial and synthetic chemistry. Low-valent aluminium complexes have been shown to act like transition metals suggesting that abundant and inexpensive aluminium could provide a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly route to bond activation and catalysis. The EU-funded ALLOWE project plans to exploit this potential with the synthesis, isolation and reactivity investigation of low-valent aluminium systems.
Objective
This ERC-CoG 2020 proposal, ALLOWE outlines a strategy for the development of low-valent aluminium systems through their synthesis, isolation, and reactivity investigation of neutral, ambiphilic, low-valent aluminium compounds, denoted “alumylenes”. Their dimeric form “dialumenes” featuring an aluminium-aluminium double bond will also be within the scope of the project. These low-valent aluminium species are expected to provide, along with greater understanding of the fundamental behaviour of low-valent aluminium, a varied and deep reactivity profile. These highly reactive compounds will offer a cheap, sustainable and non-toxic alternative to the current transition metal-based industrial chemical processes.
The proposed scheme of work begins with the synthesis of neutral alumylenes and dialumenes, respectively. This will be achieved through the use of donor ligands (i.e. N-heterocyclic carbenes) and substituents with differing electronic and steric properties. With these compounds in hand, the reactivity towards small molecules will be investigated along with development of low-valent aluminium based catalysts. Furthermore, incorporation of transition metals into these aluminium systems will be targeted as these may possess unique and interesting properties.
Established methodologies such as reductive dehalogenation or reductive dehydrohalogenation will provide access to novel low-valent aluminium compounds bearing bulky substituents and donor ligands. The synthetic portion of the work will also be supported by theoretical calculations.
The outcome of ALLOWE will provide (i) in-depth insight and understanding into low-valent aluminium’s bonding nature, particularly emphasis laid on ambiphilic aluminium center (ii) plethora of striking reactivity towards transition metal free stoichiometric and catalytic activation of small molecules, and (iii) various potential applications in aluminium-based material chemistry.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry post-transition metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
80333 Muenchen
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.