Dr. John D. Gilbertson
Department of Chemistry
University of Western Washington
Homogeneous Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts for the Conversion of Syngas into Higher Order Hydrocarbons
Dr. John Gilbertson, an inorganic chemist at the University of Western Washington, has studied homogenous catalysis in his work supported by an ACS Petroleum Research Fund UR Grant. The original goal of his proposal was to develop homogenous catalysts to activate carbon monoxide produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process from coal. Such activation would facilitate the reduction the carbon monoxide to higher value materials. Although volumes have been written on heterogeneous catalysis associated with the Fischer-Tropsch process, relatively little has been done with homogeneous catalysis. As Dr. Gilbertson indicates homogenous catalysis offers the potential for considerably improved reaction specificity.
As is often the case in research, the work yielded unexpected results. Several new ligands for use in catalysis were prepared. Although none of there were particularly successful when applied to carbon monoxide chemistry, they were quite useful for biomimetic reactions. The new ligands that were developed include acidic/basic and redox sites which are separated. As he explains, these ligands permit the transfer of what is, in essence, a hydrogen atom. The protons and electrons are transferred from separate sites within the ligand, but simultaneously. This process is common in many biological enzyme systems, however it is relatively rare in chemical catalysis. These new systems that Dr. Gilbertson and his students have developed have considerable potential as they are applicable to a wide range of substrates and they may be useful to accomplish reactions previously only done in Nature. The magnitude of the work is highlighted by the fact that it has already led to four publications.
Dr. Gilbertson is very proud of the fact that this "cutting edge" research was done by undergraduates. Providing undergraduate students meaningful research opportunities is one of his long term goals. The quality of the opportunity that he provides his students is further illustrated in that one of his students Ms. Pui Man (Audrey) Cheung received the Division of Inorganic Chemistry Undergraduate research award in the Spring of 2017 for her work supported by this PRF grant.
Dr. Gilbertson has a strong background in inorganic chemistry. He received a BA degree in Chemistry from Augustana College of Sioux Falls, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in inorganic chemistry. His postdoctoral work was with Prof. Chandler at Trinity University in San Antonio focused on heterogeneous catalysis. He states that in addition to good students, funding is critical to maintaining a good program of undergraduate research. He emphasized that funding from PRF was a critical factor in being able to do this particular project. Further, the results of this project laid the foundation that enabled him to apply for, and receive, an R15 NIH grant to continue the developing this line of research.
Grant #53427-UR3: Read Gilbertson's Annual Report
Dr. Gilbertson's lab.
