Processes for producing an ,-unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as acrylic acid, or a salt thereof, using treated solid oxides are disclosed. The treated solid oxides can be calcined solid oxides, metal-treated solid oxides, or metal-treated chemically-modified solid oxides, illustrative examples of which can include sodium-treated alumina, calcium-treated alumina, zinc-treated alumina, sodium-treated sulfated alumina, sodium-treated fluorided silica-coated alumina, and similar materials.

Processes for producing an ,-unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as acrylic acid, or a salt thereof, using solid promoters are disclosed. The solid promoters can be certain solid oxides, mixed oxides, and clays, illustrative examples of which can include alumina, zirconia, magnesia, magnesium aluminate, sepiolite, and similar materials.

Synthesis of organic compounds that has chirality is an important technique in the fields of pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals, health foods and the like. However, raw materials of a catalyst used for the synthesis of such compounds are expensive, and the synthesis needs many steps, so that it is difficult to reduce the cost. Linking a catalyst center to a polymer chain or a resin through an organic group enables to use the catalyst repeatedly and produce a chiral compound at low cost.

Precatalysts of formula I and IV, and processes for the functionalization of SP2-carbons using the same are described herein. The precatalysts comprise a fluoroborate salt protected intramolecular frustrated lewis pair (FLP). The precatalysts are bench stable with improved stability towards moisture and/or air. The precatalysts can be used to generate in situ the corresponding FLP catalyst.

Enantioselective total syntheses of the anticancer isocarbostyril alkaloids (+)-7-deoxypancratistatin, (+)-pancratistatin, (+)-lycoricidine, and (+)-narciclasine are described. Our strategy for accessing this unique class of natural products is based on the development of a Ni-catalyzed dearomative trans-1,2-carboamination of benzene. The effectiveness of this dearomatization approach is notable, as only two additional olefin functionalizations are needed to construct the fully decorated aminocyclitol cores of these alkaloids. Installation of the lactam ring has been achieved through several pathways and a direct interconversion between natural products was established via a late-stage C-7 cupration. Using this synthetic blueprint, we were able to produce natural products on a gram scale and provide tailored analogs with improved activity, solubility, and metabolic stability.

Compositions and methods of use related to metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and/or nanoparticles are generally described. In some embodiments, methods and compositions for the catalytic upgrading of alcohols using MOFs and/or nanoparticles associated with MOFs are generally described. In some embodiments, a catalytic MOF composition is provided, wherein the MOF composition comprises a MOF compound and a plurality of metal catalytic compounds. In some embodiments, an alcohol may be exposed to the MOF composition and/or a plurality of nanoparticles associated with the MOF composition such that the alcohol is converted to a higher order alcohol. Advantageously, in some embodiments, the alcohol conversion occurs at a relatively high turnover frequency and/or with a relatively high selectivity as compared to traditional methods for converting alcohols.

A chemical reactor system includes: a feed; a methane oxychlorination catalyst, wherein a product of an oxychlorination reaction is dichloromethane; and a dichloromethane conversion catalyst, wherein the dichloromethane conversion catalyst provides a product stream having a dichloromethane selectivity less than 5%. The addition of the dichloromethane conversion catalyst to the reactor bed can decrease the amount of dichloromethane produced and increase the amount of monochloromethane produced. Accordingly, dichloromethane does not have to be separated from the product stream and the monochloromethane can then be used to produce other products, such as olefins.

Described herein is the fusion of two families of unique carbon-containing molecules that readily disregard the tendency of carbon to form four chemical bonds, namely N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and carborane anions. Deprotonation of an anionic imidazolium salt with lithium diisopropylamide at room temperature leads to a mixture of lithium complexes of C-2 and C-5 dianionic NHC constitutional isomers as well as a trianionic (C-2, C-5) adduct. Judicious choice of the base and reaction conditions allows for the selective formation of all three stable polyanionic carbenes. In solution, the so-called abnormal C-5 NHC lithium complex slowly isomerizes to the normal C-2 NHC, and the process can be proton catalyzed by the addition of the anionic imidazolium salt. These results indicate that the combination of two unusual forms of carbon atoms can lead to unexpected chemical behavior, and that this strategy paves the way for the development of a broad new generation of NHC ligands for catalysis.

Processes for producing an ,-unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as acrylic acid, or a salt thereof, using treated solid oxides are disclosed. The treated solid oxides can be calcined solid oxides, metal-treated solid oxides, or metal-treated chemically-modified solid oxides, illustrative examples of which can include sodium-treated alumina, calcium-treated alumina, zinc-treated alumina, sodium-treated sulfated alumina, sodium-treated fluorided silica-coated alumina, and similar materials.

Disclosed is a novel catalyst having amine ligands for synthesizing methanol or its precursor. When the catalyst is allowed to react with an alkane in the presence of an acid, at least one CH bond of the alkane is catalytically oxidized. Therefore, the catalyst is suitable for use in forming an alkyl ester from an alkane.