Reverse Flow Adsorption Technology for the Process Integrated Recycling of Homogeneous Catalysts

In this project we propose the development of a novel concept for the process integrated recovery and recycling of homogeneous catalysts, which combines an adsorptive separation with the reverse flow technology: Reverse Flow Adsorption Technology. Three essential scientific/technological items will be addressed: 1. Two strategies for reversible adsorption of homogeneous transition metal catalysts and free ligands will be studied. In the first approach a two-step adsorption is envisaged where the first adsorbent adsorbs the catalyst complex and the second adsorbent the excess ligands. In the second approach the catalyst ligands will be functionalized with a well-defined binding motive, enabling a one step simultaneous adsorption of the catalyst complex and the excess ligand. Depending on the catalytic process one approach will be preferred over the other, and by the introduction of both we anticipate that the Reverse Flow Adsorption Technology will be general applicable. 2. Translation of these adsorption strategies into suitable adsorbents and their use in the reverse flow adsorption process concept. This involves the synthesis of functionalized adsorbents as well as ligands with supramolecular anchors. Detailed experimental characterization of the association processes and modeling of the adsorbent characteristics (equilibria, mass-transfer, metal & ligand & solvent effects) should provide sufficient information to develop design models, which will be experimentally verified in a reverse flow setup. These models will also be used to evaluate the effect of catalyst type/value and the required degree of recovery on the optimal process concept. 3. Integration of the reverse flow adsorption concept with homogeneously catalyzed reactions to evaluate/demonstrate its principal applicability. The required setup will be designed with the developed design models and the results will be used to validate the design models.