Discovery of novel catalytic materials for emissions control using high throughput scanning mass spectrometry.

High-throughput approaches were applied to the discovery of more efficient catalysts for various applications in emissions control. The screening approach was based on a hierarchy of qualitative or semi-quantitative primary screens for discovery of hits and quantitative secondary screens for confirmation and scale-up of leads. In this work, primary screening was carried out by fast scanning mass spectrometry (SMS) for NO(x) abatement, low temperature CO oxidation, VOC removal, CO(x) methanation and the water gas shift (WGS) reaction.

High throughput screening of low temperature CO oxidation catalysts using IR thermography.

The catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide is an important process used in several areas such as respiratory protection, industrial air purification, automotive emissions control, CO clean-up of flue gases and fuel cells. Research in this area has mainly focused on the improvement of catalytic activity at low temperatures. Numerous catalyst systems have been proposed, including those based on Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Au, Ag, and Cu, supported on refractory or reducible carriers or dispersed in perovskites.

Cobalt-catalyzed dimerization of alpha-olefins to give linear alpha-olefin products.

[Cp*P(OMe)3CoCH2CH3]+ [BarF]-, generated by the addition of HBArF to Cp*P(OMe)3Co(ethene), catalyzes the oligomerization of 1-hexene to give dimers and trimers. When a deficit of the acid is used, linear alpha-olefin dimers are produced at the expense of trimeric products: e.g.

High-throughput approaches to catalyst discovery.

High-throughput synthesis and screening approaches to catalyst discovery and optimization are systematically changing the way in which catalyst research is conducted. Increased rates of innovation, cost effectiveness, improved intellectual property, reduced time to market and an improved probability of success are some of the attractive features that demand consideration. Advances made over the past few years reveal that any initial skepticism is waning, and high-throughput approaches to catalyst discovery are now being implemented broadly in industrial and academic laboratories.