Abstract by Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauer, Humboldt University Berlin

Different CH Bond Activation Mechanisms on Solid Oxide Catalysts

Two different types of catalytic CH bond activations in partial oxidations are discussed: (i) activation by transition metal oxides which exchange redox equivalents with the feed molecule (Mars-van Krevelen), and (ii) activation on metal oxides where redox equivalents are exchanged directly between a hydrocarbon molecule and a surface oxygen species. For the former, we are particularly interested in support effects for vanadium oxide catalysts, in particular in the difference between reducible (VO _x / CeO ₂ ) ¹ and non-reducible (VO _x / SiO ₂ ) supports. ^2,3 For the latter, we discuss oxidative coupling of CH ₄ on (Li) doped and undoped MgO surfaces. ^{4 1} T. Kropp, J. Paier and J. Sauer, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 14616.
² J. Döbler, M. Pritzsche and J. Sauer, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 10861.
³ X. Rozanska, R. Fortrie and J. Sauer, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 7751.
⁴ K. Kwapien, J. Paier, J. Sauer, M. Geske, U. Zavyalova, R. Horn, P. Schwach, A. Trunschke and R. Schlögl, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 8774.

Curriculum Vitae of Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauer

Joachim Sauer received the Dr. rer. nat. degree in Chemistry from Humboldt University in Berlin in 1974, and the Dr. sc. nat. degree from the Academy of Sciences in (East-) Berlin in 1985. Since 1993 he is Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the Humboldt University in Berlin, and since 2006 external member of the Fritz Haber Institute (Max Planck Society). He is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg (formerly Prussian) Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy Leopoldina, and the Academia Europaea. His research has explored the application of quantum chemical methods in chemistry, with emphasis on surface science, particularly adsorption and catalysis. He has published more than 350 research papers, notably in the area of modeling the structure and reactivity of transition metal oxide catalysts and zeolites, and he has given more than 425 invited lectures. From 1999 to 2011 he was chairman of the Collaborative Research Center of the German Research Foundation (DFG) ?Aggregates of transition metal oxides - Structure, dynamics, reactivity? and he is co-founder and principal investigator of the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence ?Unifying concepts in catalysis? in Berlin. He is one of the editors of the Journal of Catalysis.