The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to investigate and develop catalytic processes mediated by iridium(III) complexes. By understanding the mechanisms, the weaknesses of the designed catalysts can be identified and be overcome in the following generation. The thesis is composed of two general sections dedicated to the synthesis and applications of homogeneous catalysts and to the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). After a general introduction (Chapter 1), the first part of the thesis (Chapters 2-4, and Appendix 1) covers the use of several homogeneous bifunctional [Cp*Ir(III)] catalysts in a variety of chemical transformations, as well as mechanistic studies. Chapter 2 summarizes the studies on the N-alkylation of anilines with benzyl alcohols catalyzed by bifunctional Ir(III) complexes. Mechanistic investigations when the reactions were catalyzed by Ir(III) complexes with a hydroxy-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand are discussed, followed by the design of a new generation of catalysts. The chapter finishes presenting the improved catalytic performance of these new complexes.    A family of these NHC-iridium complexes was evaluated in the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols, as shown in Chapter 3. The beneficial effect of a co-solvent was investigated too. Under these base-free conditions, a wide scope of alcohols was efficiently dehydrogenated in excellent yields. The unexpected higher activity of the hydroxy-containing bifunctional NHC-Ir(III) catalysts, in comparison to that of the amino-functionalized one, was investigated experimentally. In the fourth chapter, the catalytic process presented in Chapter 3 was further explored on 1,4- and 1,5-diols, which were transformed into their corresponding tetrahydrofurans and dihydropyrans, respectively. Mechanistic investigations are also discussed. In the second part of the thesis (Chapter 5), a Cp*Ir(III) complex was immobilized into a MOF. The heterogenization of the metal complex was achieved efficiently, reaching high ratios of functionalization. However, a change in the topology of the MOF was observed. In this chapter, the use of advanced characterization techniques such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and pair distribution function (PDF) analyses enabled to study a phase transformation in these materials. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted.</p>

Relata-se um estudo sobre o processo de eletrossorção do n-propanol sobre eletrodos de platina eletrodispersa em soluções de H2SO4 1 N, a diferentes temperaturas (12 a 51 ºC) e potencíais (0,30 a 0,60 V). São abordados os aspectos relacionados com a cinética de adsorção dos possíveis intermediários formados na desidrogenação do n-propanol, bem como a determinação das constantes de velocidade em cada etapa. São apresentadas as energias de ativação do processo de adsorção para graus de cobertura, &#952; = 0 e &#952; &#8800; 0. A adsorção do álcool estudado a potencial controlado na região da dupla camada elétrica, ocorre através da desidrogenação da molécula, seguida pela ionização do hidrogênio adsorvido. A isoterma cinética de adsorção foi obtida a partir dos cronoamperogramas de desidrogenação do álcool e mostra uma variação linear de &#952; com o logaritmo do tempo de adsorção (t), para 0,25 < &#952; < 0,80. Por outro lado, a relação entre E = f (log li), onde li é a máxima corrente não estacionária obtida a t = 0, é linear com coeficiente angular igual a 2,3 (2 RT/F). Esse valor indica que no início da adsorção do n-propanol, apenas um elétron está envolvido no processo. Da mesma maneira que no metanol, supõe-se que a desidrogenação do n-propanol não ocorre através da eliminação simultânea dos dois átomos de hidrogênio ligados no carbono-&#945;, mas por duas etapas consecutivas de desidrogenação: R - CH2 - OH j1&#8594; R - .CH - OH + H+ + e- ( 1 ) R - .CH - OH j2&#8594; R - ..C - OH + H+ + e- ( 2 ) Desse modo, a corrente anódica não estacionária (j), proveniente da ionização do hidrogênio formado na desidrogenação do n-propanol é resultante da soma das correntes j>SUB>1 e j2 produzidas nas reações descritas nas equações (1) e (2). Quando o tempo de adsorção é muito curto, isto é , j2 = 0, a corrente não estacionária é determinada apenas pela adsorção da espécie R-.CH-OH. Considerando esta hipótese e as isotermas de Temkin e Elovich foi obtida uma equação que descreve o grau de cobertura pela espécie R-.CH-OH, (&#952;1) em função do tempo. &#952;1 = - Qmáx B/k2t (1-A-B ln t) + k1/k2 onde Qmáx é a carga máxima de cobertura, k1 e k2 são as constantes de velocidade de adsorção das espécies R-.CH-OH e R-..C-OH, respectivamente, A e B são as constantes da equação de Elovich. A equação precedente permitiu determinar as constantes de velocidade de adsorção k1 e k2. A partir desses valores em diferentes temperaturas foram obtidas as energias de ativação para as reações (1) e (2). Verificou-se que os tempos de máxima cobertura por R.CHOH e de inflexão, obtidos respectivamente de &#952;1= f (log t) e j-1 = f(t), são comparáveis para dada temperatura e potencial. / The kinetics and mechanism of n-propanol adsorption on a platinized platinum electrode was studied in 1 N H2SO4 at several temperatures, by means of the potential pulse method. Between 0.30 V and 0.60 V (RHE), the adsorption occurs via a dehydrogenation of the &#945;-carbon, followed by a rapid ionization of the adsorbed hydrogen atoms. The kinetic isotherms obtained by integration of the chronoamperograms show a linear variation of the surface coverage, &#952;, with logarithm of the adsorption time, tads, in the range 0.25 &#8804; &#952; &#8804; 0.80. This indicates that the adsorption rate can be expressed in tems of an Elovich equation. It is shown that the relation Eads vs log Ii, where Eads is the adsorption potential and Ii is the maximum non-stationary current at t = 0, is a straight line with a slope equal to 2.3[2RT/F], independently of the temperature. These data show that the initial adsorption step envolves a monoelectronic charge transfer, and can be represented by the following equation: R-CH2-OH j1&#8594; R-.CH-OH + H+ + e- ( 1 ) Therefore, it is assumed that the adsorption occurs via a two step consecutive reaction, given by equations (1) and (2): R-.CH-OH j2&#8594; R-..C-OH + H+ + e- ( 2 ) with the two adsorbed species R-.CH-OH and R-..C-OH characterized by their degree of coverage &#952;1 and &#952;2, respect ively. The non-stationary anodic current, j, is then the sum of currents j1 and j2 resulting from reactions described by equations (1) and (2). When the adsorption time is very short, it can be assumed that j = j1 + j2 &#8776; j1, and that &#952; = &#952; 1 + &#952;2 &#8776; &#952;1. From those assumptions, the following equation relating &#952;1 with t was obtained: &#952;1 = -Qmáx . B/[k2.t (1-A-B). ln t ] + k1/k2 (3) where Qmáx is the charge related with the maximum surface coverage, k1 and k2 the apparent rate constants of reactions (1) and (2), respectively, and A and B are constants from the Elovich equation. Equation (3) permitted the evaluation of the rate constants k1 and k2 for distinct Eads values. From the data at different temperatures, the apparent activation energies of both reactions were calculated.

Relata-se um estudo sobre o processo de eletrossorção do n-propanol sobre eletrodos de platina eletrodispersa em soluções de H2SO4 1 N, a diferentes temperaturas (12 a 51 ºC) e potencíais (0,30 a 0,60 V). São abordados os aspectos relacionados com a cinética de adsorção dos possíveis intermediários formados na desidrogenação do n-propanol, bem como a determinação das constantes de velocidade em cada etapa. São apresentadas as energias de ativação do processo de adsorção para graus de cobertura, &#952; = 0 e &#952; &#8800; 0. A adsorção do álcool estudado a potencial controlado na região da dupla camada elétrica, ocorre através da desidrogenação da molécula, seguida pela ionização do hidrogênio adsorvido. A isoterma cinética de adsorção foi obtida a partir dos cronoamperogramas de desidrogenação do álcool e mostra uma variação linear de &#952; com o logaritmo do tempo de adsorção (t), para 0,25 < &#952; < 0,80. Por outro lado, a relação entre E = f (log li), onde li é a máxima corrente não estacionária obtida a t = 0, é linear com coeficiente angular igual a 2,3 (2 RT/F). Esse valor indica que no início da adsorção do n-propanol, apenas um elétron está envolvido no processo. Da mesma maneira que no metanol, supõe-se que a desidrogenação do n-propanol não ocorre através da eliminação simultânea dos dois átomos de hidrogênio ligados no carbono-&#945;, mas por duas etapas consecutivas de desidrogenação: R - CH2 - OH j1&#8594; R - .CH - OH + H+ + e- ( 1 ) R - .CH - OH j2&#8594; R - ..C - OH + H+ + e- ( 2 ) Desse modo, a corrente anódica não estacionária (j), proveniente da ionização do hidrogênio formado na desidrogenação do n-propanol é resultante da soma das correntes j>SUB>1 e j2 produzidas nas reações descritas nas equações (1) e (2). Quando o tempo de adsorção é muito curto, isto é , j2 = 0, a corrente não estacionária é determinada apenas pela adsorção da espécie R-.CH-OH. Considerando esta hipótese e as isotermas de Temkin e Elovich foi obtida uma equação que descreve o grau de cobertura pela espécie R-.CH-OH, (&#952;1) em função do tempo. &#952;1 = - Qmáx B/k2t (1-A-B ln t) + k1/k2 onde Qmáx é a carga máxima de cobertura, k1 e k2 são as constantes de velocidade de adsorção das espécies R-.CH-OH e R-..C-OH, respectivamente, A e B são as constantes da equação de Elovich. A equação precedente permitiu determinar as constantes de velocidade de adsorção k1 e k2. A partir desses valores em diferentes temperaturas foram obtidas as energias de ativação para as reações (1) e (2). Verificou-se que os tempos de máxima cobertura por R.CHOH e de inflexão, obtidos respectivamente de &#952;1= f (log t) e j-1 = f(t), são comparáveis para dada temperatura e potencial. / The kinetics and mechanism of n-propanol adsorption on a platinized platinum electrode was studied in 1 N H2SO4 at several temperatures, by means of the potential pulse method. Between 0.30 V and 0.60 V (RHE), the adsorption occurs via a dehydrogenation of the &#945;-carbon, followed by a rapid ionization of the adsorbed hydrogen atoms. The kinetic isotherms obtained by integration of the chronoamperograms show a linear variation of the surface coverage, &#952;, with logarithm of the adsorption time, tads, in the range 0.25 &#8804; &#952; &#8804; 0.80. This indicates that the adsorption rate can be expressed in tems of an Elovich equation. It is shown that the relation Eads vs log Ii, where Eads is the adsorption potential and Ii is the maximum non-stationary current at t = 0, is a straight line with a slope equal to 2.3[2RT/F], independently of the temperature. These data show that the initial adsorption step envolves a monoelectronic charge transfer, and can be represented by the following equation: R-CH2-OH j1&#8594; R-.CH-OH + H+ + e- ( 1 ) Therefore, it is assumed that the adsorption occurs via a two step consecutive reaction, given by equations (1) and (2): R-.CH-OH j2&#8594; R-..C-OH + H+ + e- ( 2 ) with the two adsorbed species R-.CH-OH and R-..C-OH characterized by their degree of coverage &#952;1 and &#952;2, respect ively. The non-stationary anodic current, j, is then the sum of currents j1 and j2 resulting from reactions described by equations (1) and (2). When the adsorption time is very short, it can be assumed that j = j1 + j2 &#8776; j1, and that &#952; = &#952; 1 + &#952;2 &#8776; &#952;1. From those assumptions, the following equation relating &#952;1 with t was obtained: &#952;1 = -Qmáx . B/[k2.t (1-A-B). ln t ] + k1/k2 (3) where Qmáx is the charge related with the maximum surface coverage, k1 and k2 the apparent rate constants of reactions (1) and (2), respectively, and A and B are constants from the Elovich equation. Equation (3) permitted the evaluation of the rate constants k1 and k2 for distinct Eads values. From the data at different temperatures, the apparent activation energies of both reactions were calculated.

Biomass valorization is an interesting alternative to fossil resources, which is frequently performed via heterogeneous catalysis. Designing new catalysts is a challenging task that can be significantly accelerated in silico. However, biomass molecules are often complex and highly oxygenated, hence rendering calculations more difficult and time consuming. Among these compounds, polyols are particularly important. We developed linear relations of the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) type from the DFT study of C-H or O-H bond dissociation elementary steps for a family of monoalcohol molecules on metallic catalysts (Co, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt). Such relations aim at predicting activation energies from reaction energies. The accuracy of the obtained linear energy models is better than 0.10 eV on the sampling set. Then, the relations were applied for the prediction of the dehydrogenation elementary steps of glycerol, chosen as a prototype of polyalcohols, with an accuracy better than 0.10 eV and with a systematic error around ±0.10 eV for Rh. Keeping in mind that the main difference between glycerol and monoalcohols comes from intramolecular H-bonds present in the former, we designed linear relations for water-assisted dehydrogenation of monoalcohols. These new relations allowed us to improve the prediction on glycerol and to eliminate the systematic deviation in the case of OH bond breaking. Even if in this study we focused on glycerol dehydrogenation, similar methods may be applied to other polyols with other chemical reactions, and considerably speed up the computational design of solid catalysts. This work paves the way for the development of novel numerical techniques to address the issue of biomass conversion.

La valorisation de la biomasse est une alternative intéressante aux ressources fossiles, et s'effectue fréquemment en catalyse hétérogène. L'élaboration de nouveaux catalyseurs est une tâche ardue qui peut être considérablement accélérée in silico. Cependant les molécules de la biomasse sont souvent complexes et hautement oxygénées, rendant ainsi les calculs plus difficiles et couteux en temps. Parmi ces composés, les polyols sont particulièrement importants. Nous avons développé des relations du type Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) à partir d'une étude DFT menée sur une famille de monoalcools concernant les dissociations des liaisons C-H et O-H sur des catalyseurs métalliques (Co, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt). Ces relations ont pour but de prédire l’énergie d’activation d’une étape élémentaire à partir de son énergie de réaction. La précision obtenue par ces modèles linéaires est supérieure à 0.10 eV pour l'échantillon considéré. Ces relations ont ensuite étaient appliquées aux étapes élémentaires de la déshydrogénation du glycérol, choisi comme polyol prototype. On observe une erreur moyenne inférieure à 0.10 eV et une erreur systématique de l'ordre de ± 0.10 eV sur Rh. Etant donné que la principale différence entre les monoalcools et le glycérol, vient des liaisons H intramoléculaires présentes dans celui-ci, nous avons mis en place des relations linéaires pour prédire la déshydrogénation des monoalcools assistée par l'eau. Ces nouvelles relations nous ont permis d'améliorer la prédiction sur le glycérol et même d'éliminer la déviation systématique dans le cas de la rupture de la liaison OH. Même si dans cette étude nous nous sommes focalisés sur la déshydrogénation du glycérol, des méthodes similaires pourraient être appliquées à d'autres polyols avec d'autres réactions chimiques, accélérant ainsi considérablement la recherche in silico de catalyseurs solides. Ce travail pave la route pour le développement de nouvelles techniques numériques pour aborder la question de la conversion de la biomasse. / Biomass valorization is an interesting alternative to fossil resources, which is frequently performed via heterogeneous catalysis. Designing new catalysts is a challenging task that can be significantly accelerated in silico. However, biomass molecules are often complex and highly oxygenated, hence rendering calculations more difficult and time consuming. Among these compounds, polyols are particularly important. We developed linear relations of the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi (BEP) type from the DFT study of C-H or O-H bond dissociation elementary steps for a family of monoalcohol molecules on metallic catalysts (Co, Ni, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt). Such relations aim at predicting activation energies from reaction energies. The accuracy of the obtained linear energy models is better than 0.10 eV on the sampling set. Then, the relations were applied for the prediction of the dehydrogenation elementary steps of glycerol, chosen as a prototype of polyalcohols, with an accuracy better than 0.10 eV and with a systematic error around ±0.10 eV for Rh. Keeping in mind that the main difference between glycerol and monoalcohols comes from intramolecular H-bonds present in the former, we designed linear relations for water-assisted dehydrogenation of monoalcohols. These new relations allowed us to improve the prediction on glycerol and to eliminate the systematic deviation in the case of OH bond breaking. Even if in this study we focused on glycerol dehydrogenation, similar methods may be applied to other polyols with other chemical reactions, and considerably speed up the computational design of solid catalysts. This work paves the way for the development of novel numerical techniques to address the issue of biomass conversion.