Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung

The chemical industry has been using a reaction with explosive chemicals for over 100 years - now Mülheim scientists have discovered a safer alternative.

The Max Planck-Cardiff Centre Funcat lays the foundations for the systematic development of chemical reaction accelerators

After two years of online only encounters, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2022 took place onsite again

12 Max Planck researchers win coveted ERC Advanced Grants

New method enables simple tritium labeling and could provide added value to the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals

Second-generation biofuels could solve the food versus fuel conflict because the energy crops involved do not need to be cultivated on arable land specifically reserved for them, which would then no longer be available for food production. Researchers around the world, including Ferdi Schüth, Director at the Max Planck Institute für Kohlenforschung, and Walter Leitner, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, are working on the production of both economically viable and low-emission biofuels.

Doctors today already frequently rely on positron emission tomography – PET for short – in cancer diagnostics. However, in order to use this method for other diseases, too, they need suitable tracer substances containing radioactive fluorine-18 – a challenge for Tobias Ritter and his team at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr. The chemists are searching for ways to label diverse molecules with fluorine-18 and thus expand the range of possibilities for medical specialists.

The discovery that small organic molecules are excellent catalysts makes Ben List, Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, one of the pioneers of a new research field in chemistry. His life, however, has been shaped just as much by a life-changing vacation experience.

In 1925, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr discovered how to turn coal into gasoline. Today, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is experiencing a renaissance, as it is used to refine far more than just coal. The process can also be applied to turn natural gas, biomass and even household trash into fuel.

Creativity is as much in demand in research as in music. Nuno Maulide has a wealth of creativity. A chemist working at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung (Coal Research) in Mülheim an der Ruhr, he not only develops new synthetic methods for valuable organic compounds, he also continues to impress people with his piano concerts.

In my group we are working on new computational methods to describe electronically excited states in molecules. These should primarily be applied to transition-metal complexes. To describe excitations between organic ligands and metal centers, we use time-dependent perturbation theory approaches for multi-reference methods. We were able to achieve that excitations from degenerate ground states are also possible. Furthermore, we have developed a simple method that improves the accuracy of the calculated excitation energies.

The input of mechanical energy is a new way to accelerate chemical reactions or to open up new reaction pathways. Ammonia synthesis normally requires 400-500°C and pressures of 200-300 atm. However, if this reaction is carried out under milling in a ball mill with a suitable catalyst, nitrogen and hydrogen can be converted to ammonia even at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, albeit with substantially lower rates than in the technical process. Mechanocatalytic reactions are not restricted to ammonia synthesis, since we have found a number of other reactions benefitting from milling.

Tritium ³H is a radioactive Isotope of hydrogen that serves as an ideal tracer for pharmaceutical development. Generally, tritium is introduced into small-molecule drug-like compounds by heterogeneous catalysts. However, these commonly also destroy a variety of other groups that are prevalent especially in pharmaceuticals. We have now discovered a method to perform hydrogenolysis reactions on such molecules with homogeneous catalysts, so that they can be labeled with tritium. They are compatible with other functional groups and straightforward to use. 

Since 60 years Ni(COD)2 has revolutionized the field of Ni-catalysis due to its incredible chemical properties. However, its great instability when exposed to air and its temperature sensitivity required complicated techniques. Recently, at the MPI für Kohlenforschung we have developed a series of Ni(0)-stilbene complexes which are stable to air and temperature and can be manipulated in the bench-top without any special equipment. The simplicity of operation is accompanied by the great versatility of these complexes as surrogates of Ni(COD)2 in a plethora of catalytic transformations.

Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung have developed new computational approaches to quantify and analyze accurately van der Waals interactions. In a series of studies they demonstrated how important understanding the fine details of intermolecular interactions is for the creation of complex structures and the design of efficient reaction paths. This of intermolecular interactions is for the creation of complex structures and the design of efficient reaction paths. This opens new possibilities for catalysis, biochemistry and materials science.