Research Program 1. Catalytic Materials Discovery for Efficient C-N Coupling

Background

Organonitrogen compounds are critical to pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, polymers, and fine chemicals. Conventional methods often require multistep thermochemical processes with high temperatures, precious metals, and stoichiometric reagents, leading to high energy use and significant waste. Electrified processes such as electrocatalysis offer a sustainable alternative by using renewable electricity and waste-derived feedstocks, such as CO₂ from flue gas or nitrate from wastewater, to form C–N bonds under mild conditions.

Goals

We aim to discover efficient catalysts and establish general design principles by integrating high-throughput synthesis, screening, and characterization with AI-assisted analysis and optimization. These insights will guide the rational design of catalysts for producing valuable organonitrogen compounds such as urea, amides, and amines from waste-derived feedstocks (e.g., CO₂, nitrate, nitrite). This research will lay the foundation for advancing key catalytic reactions, including C–C, C–S, C–P coupling, nitrogen chemistry that are central to sustainable chemical manufacturing.

Related Publications

Huang, J.†; Wang, Z.†; Liang, J.†; Li, X.; Pietryga, J.; Ye, Z.; Smith, P. T.; Kulaksizoglu, A.;McCormick, C. M.; Kim, J.; Peng, B.; Liu, Z.; Xie, K.; Torrisi, S. B.; Montoya, J. H.; Wu, G.; Sargent, E. H.*; Mirkin, C. A.* Accelerating the pace of OER catalyst discovery through megalibraries. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 34, 30956–30966.

Huang, J.; Liu, Y.; Xu, M.; Wan, C.; Liu, H.; Li, M.; Huang, Z.; Duan, X.; Pan, X.; Huang, Y.* PtCuNi Tetrahedra catalysts with Tailored Surface for efficient alcohol oxidation. Nano Lett. 2019, 19, 8, 5431-5436.