ACS 2020 Fall Meeting: Spectroscopy for Understanding Catalysis

Organizers: Randall Goldsmith and Josh Vura-Weis

Mechanistic insight into catalysis is a target of some of the most cutting edge tools in optical spectroscopy. These tools span a tremendous array of energies, from meV to keV, are capable of revealing dynamics occurring on timescales ranging from seconds to femtoseconds, and are applied on both large chemical ensembles and single particles and molecules. Taken together, these techniques have revealed the existence of previously unknown chemical intermediates, characterized the structure of transient species, helped to refine chemical pictures of reaction mechanisms, and even informed new cycles of catalyst design. This symposium will bring together physical chemists studying catalysis. Experimentalists covering a wide array of techniques will be included, as will synthetic chemists who will provide useful background information from their complementary perspective and could help identify new problems for the application of spectroscopy. The goal of this symposium is to determine, as a community, places where complementary techniques can amplify mechanistic insights and new opportunities for future spectroscopic explorations.

This symposium will be held via Zoom, and a link will be provided here closer to the meeting dates.

Tentative Agenda, All times Central Time (CDT)
 

Monday Morning, Aug 17

Session:CO2 Reduction 
Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/94622861341 , Password: 6E23
Presider Name:Amy Cordones 
9:30 AMJenny YangSelective CO2 Reduction to HCO2- through Thermodynamic and Kinetic Contro
10:05 AMElad GrossInfrared nanospectroscopy mapping of catalytic reactions on single nanoparticles
10:40 AMIntermission 
11:00 AMPrashant JainCapturing Intermediates and Intrinsic Noise in CO2 Reduction Catalysis
11:35 AMJahan DawlatyMeasuring and Controlling the Electrostatic Environment of Electrochemical Interfaces
11:55 AMHeinz FreiUnderstanding mechanisms of CO2 reduction catalysis by capturing infrared intermediates
 

Monday Afternoon, Aug 17

SessionWater Oxidation 
Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/94622861341 , Password: 6E23
Presider Name:Suzanne Blum 
1:00 PMAndrew BorovikEffects of non-covalent interactions on high valent metal-oxido complexes: A spectroscopic perspective
1:35 PMNing FangSingle Molecule Study of Heterogeneous Catalysis in Nanoconfining Material
2:10 PMIntermission 
2:30 PMYulia PushkarTracing reactive intermediates in catalytic water oxidation.
3:05 PMEmily Sprague-KleinStructural Changes and Charge Transport in Heterogenous and Molecular Cobalt Catalysts for Water Splitting Reactions
3:25 PMJoaquin Rodriguez LopezProbing Interfacial Kinetics On Atomically-Thin Electrodes via Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy coupled to Laser Excitation and Raman Spectroscopy
 

Tuesday Morning, Aug 18

SessionH+ Reduction 
Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/91828411537 , Password: 6E23
Presider Name:Prashant Jain 
8:30 AMThomas RauchfussStatus Report on Bio-inspired Catalysis for Hydrogen Evolution
9:05 AMWei WangA nanobubble approach for accessing the photocatalytical activity of single nanoparticles
9:40 AMIntermission 
10:00 AMLeif HammarstromCapturing intermediates of solar fuels catalysts by transient mid-IR spectroscopy
10:35 AMAnwesha MaitraTracking the Proton Donation Mode Near an Electrode During Hydrogen Evolution
10:55 AMIntermission 
11:15 AMAmy CordonesAtomic View of Nickel Dithiolene Photocatalysis using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy
11:50 AMKubarychUltrafast Vibrational Dynamics of Vibrational Polaritons
 

Wednesday Morning, Aug 19

SessionPhotocatalysis 
Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/98462927987 , Password: 6E23
Presider Name:Dugan Hayes 
9:30 AMTehshik YoonControl, Kinetics, and Rational Design in Photochemical Synthesis
10:05 AMMatthew BirdRedox potentials with pulse radiolysis for photocatalysis
10:40 AMIntermission 
11:00 AMBryan KudischUltrafast Spectroscopic Insights into Photoenzymatic Catalysis: Active Site Influences on Intraprotein Electron Transfer
11:20 AMHannah SayreBio-Inspired Ir(III) PCET Photocatalysis
11:40 AMAndrew Orr-EwingMapping photoredox catalytic cycles over femtosecond to millisecond timescales using transient absorption spectroscopy
12:15 PMIntermission 
12:35 PMLei TianUltrafast spectroscopy offers mechanistic insights for an iridium/nickel-catalyzed C-O cross coupling
12:55 PMJames McCuskerMechanistic studies of photoredox catalysis involving first-row transition metal-based chromophores: Theory and practice
 

Thursday Morning, Aug 20

SessionPolymerization 
Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/91416362998 , Password: 6E23
Presider Name:James McCusker 
9:30 AMClark LandisDirect and indirect probes of active catalyst sites
10:05 AMSuzanne BlumMechanistic Chemistry at the Single-Molecule and Single-Catalytic-Turnover Level
10:40 AMIntermission 
11:00 AMAndrew CavellOptical monitoring of polymerizations in droplets with high temporal dynamic range
11:35 AMXihan ChenUltrafast reaction mechanisms in perovskite based photocatalytic C-C coupling
11:55 AMintermission 
12:15 PMPeng ChenSingle-polymer growth dynamics in ring opening metathesis polymerization
12:50 PMDugan HayesMechanistic insights into the copper-catalyzed photocycloaddition reaction by optical and X-ray transient absorption spectroscopy
1:10 PMWon Jun JoIn situ Spectroscopy of Photocatalytic Conversion of CO2 and H2O to Fuel in Core-Shell Nanotube Array