Catalytic carboxylation of saturated hydrocarbons with CO2 en route to fatty acids (WP1)
Host institution: ICIQ, Spain
Deadline for application: 1st April 2020
3 PhD year position. Expected start date: Mid 2020.
Remember to read the eligibility criteria here.
Objectives:
- Optimize reaction conditions for catalytic carboxylation of simple saturated hydrocarbons with Ni and Cu catalysts
- Study the generality of the carboxylation reactions on different starting materials
- Design asymmetric variants of the carboxylation reaction
- Evaluate commercial interest in products and work on development of scalable processes (during stay at EV)
- Train elements of computational chemistry to gain knowledge mechanistic aspects (during stay at UIT)
Expected results:
- Catalytic system that allows for directly transforming carbon dioxide into added-value fatty acids from simple saturated hydrocarbon feedstocks
- Mechanistic insights into CO2-based carboxylation of simple hydrocarbons
Planned secondments:
- UIT to Assoc. Prof. Hopmann (2 months): Work on the mechanistic intricacies from a computational perspective (with ESR5).
- Industrial secondment to EV with Prof. Franke (2 months): Design of a scalable carboxylation process.
Enrolment in Doctoral degree: ESR1 will have the daily work at ICIQ, but will be formally enrolled at URV, Spain.
Principal Supervisor: Prof. Ruben Martin (ICIQ)
Questions? Write to us at co2perate@uit.no.