Homogeneous catalysts demonstrate the ability to perform extremely selective organic syntheses with high yields. These catalysts are usually quite expensive and the commercial viability of processes that use homogeneous catalysts depends on the efficiency of catalyst recovery, which is normally quite complex. This obstacle often excludes the use of homogene-ous catalysts from commercial processes. This work investigates the implementation of mem-branes as the unit operation for catalyst recovery as a means to expand the use of homogeneous catalysis. The commercial polyimide, Matrimid, has been examined for its suitability as a membrane material for the homogeneous catalyst recovery of a 1-dodecene hydroformylation reaction, catalyzed by a rhodium-triphenylphosphine transition metal catalyst. This reaction occurs in the liquid phase in solution with toluene. Because of the aggressive environment of the reaction, blends of Matrimid with a crosslinkable, diacetylene-functionalized oligomer have been formed to promote polymer stability through network formation. The diacetylene groups on the oligomer and acetylene end groups can be thermally activated at 250 ??o form distributed polymer networks. Compatible blends of Matrimid and the crosslinking agent can be formed with up to 10% (w/w) crosslinking agent content. Matrimid and the blends have been investigated in the form of dense, nonporous films to evaluate their membrane performance. In terms of material stabilization, it has been found that heat treatment of the neat Matrimid at 250 ??esults in a significant suppression of the material plasticization when exposed to toluene. Addition of the crosslinking oligomer to Matrimid promotes further reduction in swelling and toluene sorption. Transport studies of the reaction components in the materials show that addition of the crosslinking oligomer results in reduced diffusion of the permeating components in the mem-brane materials. However, some increases in solute sorption occur and this is attributed to the oligomer chemistry. A 10% blend of crosslinking agent and Matrimid gave a superior catalyst rejection of 91.5%. The catalyst rejection system has been modeled using Maxwell-Stefan transport equa-tions. Through the model it was found the flux coupling significantly influences the separation characteristics, with sorption of both the solvent and solute as key factors.

We have successfully investigated the use of CO2 as a miscibility switch to create an environment in which we can run a homogeneously catalyzed reaction while maintaining a heterogeneous separation. We explored the use of this technique with fluorous biphasic systems, a fluorous solid support, and aqueous biphasic systems. In the case of the fluorous systems, CO2 was added to induce solubility of the fluorous catalyst. When the reaction was completed, CO2 was vented and the system returned to a biphasic state, making the separation easy. For the aqueous biphasic systems, the organic phase is chosen such that it is fully miscible with water at ambient conditions. Examples include acetonitrile, THF, and dioxane. The addition of CO2 reduces the polarity of the solvent and causes a phase split. The recovery of the water-soluble catalyst is once again heterogeneous. The application to aqueous biphasic systems is the most exciting studied. Aqueous biphasic systems are used industrially in the hydroformylation of propylene. With our technique, these systems can be extended to more hydrophobic substrates. We have shown a rate increase of 65 fold and 99% product recovery at modest pressures for the hydroformylation of 1-octene. These aqueous biphasic systems also show much promise in the arena of enzyme catalyzed reactions. We can create an environment in which the enzyme kinetics will no longer be mass transfer limited.

Les catalyseurs supportés sur des dendrimères et nanoparticules magnétiques acquièrent actuellement une importance accrue dans le contexte de la chimie verte et du développement durable car ils sont séparés facilement des produits de réaction par filtration ou à l’aide d’un aimant et recyclables. Dans cet esprit, la thèse a été dédiée à la synthèse, à la caractérisation et aux applications catalytiques de catalyseurs moléculaires, nano-et dendritiques immobilisés impliquant le ruthénium, le cuivre et le palladium. Les catalyseurs magnétiquement recyclables de ruthenium (II), de cuivre (I) et des nanoparticules de palladium ont produit d’excellentes performances en terme d’activité, de stabilité et de recyclabilité pour les réactions de cycloaddition entre les alcynes et les azotures et les réactions de couplage croisé carbone-carbone. Enfin, la synthèse de complexes mono-et polymétalliques du palladium contenant les ligands 2-pyridyl-1,2,3-triazole a également été réalisée et leurs proprietiés catalytiques ont été étudiées. / Catalysts based on dendrimers and magnetic nanoparticles are becoming increasing utilized in the context of green and sustainable chemistry, because they are easily separated by precipitation or by using asimple magnet respectively, and they are recyclable. In this spirit, the thesis has been devoted to the synthesis, characterization and catalytic applications of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles-immobilized molecular, nano-and dendritic catalysts involving Ru, Cu and Pd. Magnetically recyclable ruthenium(II) and Cu(I) complexes and Pd nanoparticles have provided excellent catalytic performances in terms of activity, stability and recyclability, using alkyne-azide cycloaddition and carbon-carbon cross coupling reactions. The synthesis of mono-and polymetallic palladium complexes containing the 2-pyridyl-1,2,3-triazole ligand or nonabranch-derived ligands has also been carried out, and their catalytic properties in coupling reactions has been studied

De nos jours, les matériaux carbonés macroscopiques font face à un nombre croissant d'applications en catalyse, soit en tant que supports, soit directement en tant que catalyseurs sans métal. Cependant, il reste difficile de développer un support de catalyseur hiérarchisé à base de. carbone ou un catalyseur utilisant un procédé de synthèse beaucoup plus simple. À la recherche de nouveaux matériaux carbonés structurés pour la catalyse hétérogène, nous avons exploré le potentiel du feutre de carbone / graphite du commerce (FC / FG). Le but du travail décrit dans cette thèse a été le développement du monolithe FG et FC en tant que catalyseur sans métal pour les réactions d’oxydation en phase gazeuse et en tant que support de catalyseur, notamment pour le palladium, pour les réactions d’hydrogénation en phase liquide, et leur rôle dans la performance de réaction de ces catalyseurs. En raison de leur surface de chimie inerte avec une mouillabilité inappropriée, une telle étude avait pour condition d'activer celles d'origine. Par conséquent, des FG et des FC modifiés bien arrondis ont été synthétisés avec des propriétés physico-chimiques adaptées par une série de procédés de traitement chimique, tels que l'oxydation, l'amination, la thiolation, le dopage à l'azote et au soufre. L’oxydation partielle du sulfure d’hydrogène en soufre élémentaire et l’hydrogénation sélective du cinnamaldéhyde α, β-insaturé, en tant que réactions sensibles à l’effet des propriétés du catalyseur sur l’activité et la sélectivité, combinées à des techniques de caractérisation, ont été choisis pour étudier l’effet de la matériaux carbonés sur le comportement catalytique. / Nowadays, macroscopic carbon materials are facing an increasing number of applications in catalysis, either as supports or directly as metal-free catalysts on their own. However, it is still challenging to develop hierarchical carbon-based catalyst support or catalyst using a much simple synthesis process. In the quest for novel structured carbon materials for heterogeneous catalysis we explored the potential of commercial carbon/graphite felt (CF/GF). The aim of the work described in this thesis has been the development of GF and CF monolith as metal-free catalyst for gas-phase oxidation reactions and as catalyst support, notably for palladium, for liquid-phase hydrogenation reactions, and their roles in the reaction performance of these catalysts. Due to their inert chemistry surface with inappropriate wettability, a prerequisite for such a study was to activate the origin ones. Therefore, well-rounded modified GFs and CFs were synthesized with tailored physic-chemical properties by a series of chemical treatment processes, such as oxidation, amination, thiolation, nitrogen- and sulfur-doping. The partial oxidation of hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur and selective hydrogenation of α, β-unsaturated cinnamaldehyde, as the sensitive test reactions to the influence of the catalyst properties on activity and selectivity, combined with characterization techniques, were chosen to investigate the effect of functionalized carbon materials on the catalytic behavior.