Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Well-Defined Silica-Supported Titanium Catalysts for Introducing Nitrogen Functional Groups

Project description

Industry-compatible catalysts for the synthesis of amines

A variety of industries, including the pharmaceuticals, polymers and agrochemicals industries, use chemicals called amines. Traditional methods for making amines are inefficient in resources and energy; as a result, they are expensive and produce wasteful by-products. Alternative pathways to synthesise amines involve catalysis that is 100 % atom-efficient, facilitated by earth-abundant titanium catalysts. This catalysis offers significant environmental advantages over traditional methods, but it is not cost-effective for the industrial scale because separating the catalysts from the products is expensive. In this context, the EU-funded SiTi-CAT project will develop titanium catalysts for amine synthesis that can be easily and cheaply separated from the products. This will ensure that their widespread use is more attractive to industries and that amines can be produced in a more efficient way.

Objective

Amines are commercially valuable compounds used in a wide range of products including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and polymers (global market USD 16.6 billion), but their industrial synthesis is inefficient and expensive. Alternatively, nitrogen functional groups can be synthesised by green, 100% atom efficient reactions (hydroamination and hydroaminoalkylation) that are catalysed by earth-abundant homogeneous Ti complexes. These reactions are not yet industrially viable due to high costs of catalyst recovery and product purification. We need to develop catalysts for these processes that exhibit the high activity and selectivity of homogeneous Ti catalysts but are industrially viable.

This project will develop new heterogeneous catalysts for introducing nitrogen functional groups by immobilising Ti complexes based on homogeneous catalysts for hydroamination and hydroaminoalkylation onto silica surfaces. It will blend the disciplines of chemical synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, and surface organometallic chemistry by using the expertise of researchers and specialist facilities in Canada and France. I will: synthesise novel catalysts featuring well-defined Ti metal centres supported by ligands immobilised on silica surfaces, optimise their activity for hydroamination and hydroaminoalkylation on industrially important substrates, and investigate the mechanism of the reactions to optimise and enhance industrial applicability.

This project will transform green processes to manufacture nitrogen-containing chemicals from academic research into industrial routes. Knowledge and key skills in chemical synthesis, catalyst development and surface organometallic chemistry will be shared between European and Canadian researchers, resulting in a synergic partnership impacting academic and industrial fields. I will apply my previous experience and learn new technical and transferable skills, which will advance me to my goal of becoming an independent academic researcher.

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

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.

Topic(s)

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.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 291 785,28
Total cost

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.

No data

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0