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Polish scientists offer a novel palladium/coper nanocatalyst for the use in pharmacy, Sonogashira coupling and laboratory synthesis.

Country of Origin: Poland
Reference Number: TOPL20161104001
Publication Date: 4 November 2016

Summary

The scientists from a Polish university have developed a novel method of obtaining nanostructures on surfaces, for example PdNPS/Cu, which is used as catalyst in the synthesis of many organic compounds. The reaction products have a higher purity compared with products made by conventional methods. Licensees or manufacturers are sought who produce or sell catalysts into pharmaceuticals, pesticides and plant protection products, electronics and optoelectronics markets.

Description

The group of Polish scientists specializing in bio and nanotechnology together with a small company from bio-chemical industry has developed an innovative nanocatalyst which is used to proceed the carbon bond forming reaction, especially Sonogashira reaction.

Studies have shown that it is characterized by high selectivity and high activity yielding products of high purity. The use PdNPS/Cu makes it possible to carry out two cycles without losing the catalytic activity level. This therefore leads to savings of its use. Another source of savings is due to reduce the amount of palladium. This amount decreases even 150-fold resulting in a significant reduction of costs.

This is important from the point of view of the price of the metal, which in the past 10 years has increased more than fourfold reaching a price near $ 875 per ounce (31,1 grams). The proposed catalyst giving high performance at relatively low palladium content, may therefore be one of the cheapest solutions of the known heterogeneous catalysts on the market.

Other main advantages of the solution, affecting primarily the benefits for consumers (lower costs) are the following:

•	possibility of applying the nanopallad on the copper surface in an easy and controlled manner,

•	the opportunity to receive nanocatalyst composed of nanopallad deposited on copper,

•	maintaining the size of the grains of transferred nanopallad,

•	there is no need for using the reducing agents and stabilizers in the production of nanocatalyst, which greatly simplifies the process, as well as increases the possibility of its use in many reaction systems,

•	simple suspension in the reaction mixture, and easy separation of the catalyst after the completion of reaction (filtration, centrifugation),

•	availability of raw materials needed to produce the nanocatalyst,

•	the possibility to synthesize the catalyst both in the laboratory and on an industrial scale without the need for specialized equipment.



Available studies dealing with the global market of catalysts and enzymes indicate its value for approx. $ 19.5 billion in 2016 year. Catalysts account for 80% of this branch but the predominant (31%) of these are catalysts related to environmental factors (eg. automotive catalytic converters), chemical catalysts (eg. used in organic synthesis). Catalysts and enzymes sector belongs to a group called. specialty chemicals, which is expected to grow at a rate of 5,2% per annum by 2017. There are no studies extracting catalysts for the reaction of formation of C-C bonds, in particular the Sonogashira reaction.



Palladium catalyzed Sonogashira is one of the most important and most frequently used methods for producing aryloacetylene and conjugated enzyms which are precursors of other materials having useful properties. It is used in the synthesis of many organic compounds, which are then used in the production of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and plant protection products, electronics and optoelectronics . Hence, many different industries may be interested in a solution. The main branch that may be interested in cooperation is the chemical industry, especially large companies and corporations producing pesticides or plant protection products. They can notice  significant differences in the costs of production. The other branch the scientists would like to start cooperation with are pharmaceutical companies, whose experience and range exceeds the possibilities of Polish companies. The preferred form of cooperation the license agreement or manufacturing agreement.

Advantages and Innovations

The advantages of the solution are as follows: 

1.	In the production process of a nanocatalyst there is no need for reducing agents or stabilizers, which greatly simplifies the process and also increases its applicability to many reaction systems.

2.	Preparation of the catalyst is carried out with the use of standard laboratory equipment, which contributes to the low cost of its manufacture.

3.	The reactions in which the catalyst will be used do not require the use of any additional chemicals, such as the. salts of copper (Cu I).

4.	By using the catalyst there is no need to maintain the anaerobic conditions, which additionally simplifies the process.

The innovativeness of the solution is based mainly on simplifying of the process, shortening the time and lowering of costs:

1.	The amount of palladium used in the reaction is reduced from 1 mol% - 5 mol% (in conventional methods), up to 0,035 mol% (in case of using PdNPS/Cu), which significantly reduces the costs due to the price of palladium.

2.	The reactions proceed in the high yields, generating a minimum of by-products, often giving the product which does not require any further purification (eg. crystallization or chromatographic separation, which shortens the process and at the same time affect its economics.)

Stage Of Development

Available for demonstration

Requested partner

There is a search for the technology recipient who in collaboration with the creator will want to scale up the product and to offer a ready technology or product to the market. The partner should have experience on the market, where the solution can found utility (pharmacy, electronics, optoelectronics, agricultural product) and the possibilities of selling the product internationally. From a potential partner there is also expected to initiate new ideas for new products for which there is a market demand.