Inorganometallic Catalyst Design
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are attracting the attention of many scientists because of their high selectivity in gas separations, catalytic activity, and magnetic properties. In our Energy Frontier Research Center called Inorganometallic Catalyst Design Center (ICDC) we combine theory and experiment to understand the activity of transition metal catalysts supported on Zr6 nodes in MOFs for reactions related to natural gas conversion, like catalytic oligomerization of abundant C1, C2, and C3 hydrocarbons to longer congeners or selective oxidation to alcohols or other fuel molecules, while avoiding overoxidation to water and carbon dioxide. I will briefly describe ICDC and report our latest results achieved through the synergy between experiment and theory.