The development of new catalysts and biocatalysts is one of the most important topics of research necessary for securing a sustainable future for our society. Using new catalysts, it is possible to both improve the efficiency of existing processes for production of fine chemicals and polymers and also to replace petroleum with new renewable raw materials. In short, catalysis is key for the future of our society. Due to its high importance, catalysis is one of our main research focuses in Faculty 3 of the University of Stuttgart. We perform cutting edge research into new homogeneous, heterogeneous, and biocatalysts that improve existing chemical and materials production and enable new and improved processes, feedstocks, and products that further the goals toward a sustainable future.
Homogeneous catalysts are well-defined molecules that are highly active and selective for the reactions that they catalyze. They have the additional advantage that their reactivity can be explained in relation to their structures, often in collaboration with ab initio chemical simulation technologies (Kästner and Kühn groups). Via homogeneous catalysts developed here, it is possible to make highly active and selective catalysts for the synthesis of a diverse range of products from fine chemicals, to pharmaceuticals (Laschat and Peters groups), and new polymeric materials (Buchmeiser group) with interesting properties.
Heterogeneous catalyst are solids whose surfaces contain active sites that can be used to carry out catalytic transformations. Due to their easy and inexpensive syntheses and high stability at high reaction temperatures, they are especially beloved in industrial reactions. We develop new heterogeneous catalysts for applications in moving large scale industrial processes from petroleum-based to renewable feedstocks, such as creating fuels and chemicals from CO2 (Klemm, Krüger, and Estes groups) or biomass derived feedstocks (Traa and Dyballa groups).
Biocatalysts are proteins containing a catalytic active site with special properties that are impossible without the protein – the so called entatic state. Using the entatic state principle, evolution has iteratively improved biocatalysts to often be the most efficient catalysts for a given reaction. Biocatalysts are useful in large-scale fermentation processes that are used in the production of important products in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries (Jeltsch, Traube, and Richert groups). Our faculty has also been a forerunner in the creation of non-natural enzymes through protein engineering strategies that act as very efficient catalysts for reactions useful for industry (Kries group).
However, our research does not simply stay within the traditional boundaries of the catalytic disciplines, but also combines the advantages of all three catalytic disciplines to further improve catalyst performances. In the collaborative research center 1333, based in our faculty, we confine homogeneous catalysts inside of solid materials and use this confinement to improve their catalytic properties. This gives us catalysts that are still highly active and selective for interesting reactions, but whose structure is changed by the formation of a biocatalyst-like entatic state inside the material. This allows us to take only the advantages of each catalyst discipline and synthesize the next generation of catalysts for use in a wide variety of applications that will doubtless have long-lasting implications for our society.
