Area of research
Organic Chemistry · Catalysis
Research interest
Research topics from publications: Microwave-Specific Enhancement of the Carbon–Carbon Dioxide (Boudouard) Reaction; On the existence of and mechanism for microwave-specific reaction rate enhancement; Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of Mississippi coal: A comparative study with conventional pyrolysis; High Refractive Index Polymers Based on Thiol–Ene Cross-Linking Using Polarizable Inorganic/Organic Monomers; On the rational design of microwave-actuated organic reactions; Correspondence on Microwave Effects in Organic Synthesis; Microwave-driven heterogeneous catalysis for activation of dinitrogen to ammonia under atmospheric pressure; Microwave-Specific Acceleration of a Friedel–Crafts Reaction: Evidence for Selective Heating in Homogeneous Solution; Mechanism of Initiation in the Phillips Ethylene Polymerization Catalyst: Redox Processes Leading to the Active Site; Parameters Affecting the Microwave-Specific Acceleration of a Chemical Reaction. Representative work: The Boudouard reaction, which is the reaction of carbon and carbon dioxide to produce carbon monoxide, represents a simple and straightforward method for the remediation of carbon dioxide in the environment through reduction: CO2(g) + C(s) ⇌ 2CO. However, due to the large positive enthalpy, typically reported to be 172 kJ/mol under standard conditions at 298 K, the equilibrium does not favor CO production until temperatures >700 °C, when the entropic term, −TΔS, begins to dominate and the free energy becomes negative. We have found that, under microwave irradiation to selectively heat the carbon, dramatically different thermodynamics for the reaction are observed. During kinetic studies of t The use of microwave radiation to drive chemical reactions has become ubiquitous in almost all fields of chemistry. In all of these areas it is principally due to rapid and convenient heating resulting in significantly higher rates of reaction, with other advantages including enhanced product selectivity and control of materials properties. Although microwave heating continues to grow as an enabling technology, fundamental research into the nature of microwave heating has not grown at the same rate. In the case of chemical reactions run in homogeneous solution, particularly synthetic organic reactions, there is considerable controversy over the origins of rate enhancement, with a fundamental
Microwave Inhibition of the Hydrogenation of CO<sub>2</sub> for Methane Formation
Accelerated thermal reaction kinetics by indirect microwave heating of a microwave-transparent substrate
Direct Measurement of the Selective Microwave-Induced Heating of Agglomerates of Dipolar Molecules: The Origin of and Parameters Controlling a Microwave Specific Superheating Effect
Microwave-driven heterogeneous catalysis for activation of dinitrogen to ammonia under atmospheric pressure
Microwave-specific acceleration of a retro-Diels–Alder reaction
Cooperative Application of Conventional and Microwave Heating
Additive and free‐volume effects on the refractive index of a thiol‐ene polymer network
High Refractive Index Polymers (<i>n</i> > 1.7), Based on Thiol–Ene Cross-Linking of Polarizable P═S and P═Se Organic/Inorganic Monomers
Microwave Heating Outperforms Conventional Heating for a Thermal Reaction that Produces a Thermally Labile Product: Observations Consistent with Selective Microwave Heating
Microwave-assisted pyrolysis of Mississippi coal: A comparative study with conventional pyrolysis
Reassessment of the Electronic Structure of Cr(VI) Sites Supported on Amorphous Silica and Implications for Cr Coordination Number
Do Mono-oxo Sites Exist in Silica-Supported Cr(VI) Materials? Reassessment of the Resonance Raman Spectra
Selective Microwave Heating of Organic Reaction Mixtures
Mechanism of Initiation in the Phillips Ethylene Polymerization Catalyst: Ethylene Activation by Cr(II) and the Structure of the Resulting Active Site
Changing Perspectives on the Strategic Use of Microwave Heating in Organic Synthesis
The “chaperone” effect in microwave-driven reactions
On the existence of and mechanism for microwave-specific reaction rate enhancement
Mechanism of Initiation in the Phillips Ethylene Polymerization Catalyst: Redox Processes Leading to the Active Site
Reexamining the evidence for proton transfers in ethylene polymerization
Microwave-Assisted Superheating and/or Microwave-Specific Superboiling (Nucleation-Limited Boiling) of Liquids Occurs under Certain Conditions but is Mitigated by Stirring
High Refractive Index Polymer Composites Synthesized by Cross-Linking of Oxozirconium Clusters Through Thiol-Ene Polymerization
Loss Mechanisms and Microwave‐Specific Effects in Heterogeneous Catalysis
ChemInform Abstract: On the Existence of and Mechanism for Microwave‐Specific Reaction Rate Enhancement
Microwave-Specific Acceleration of a Friedel–Crafts Reaction: Evidence for Selective Heating in Homogeneous Solution
Parameters Affecting the Microwave-Specific Acceleration of a Chemical Reaction
Microwave-Specific Effects on the Equilibrium Constants and Thermodynamics of the Steam–Carbon and Related Reactions
Microwave-Specific Enhancement of the Carbon–Carbon Dioxide (Boudouard) Reaction
Correspondence on Microwave Effects in Organic Synthesis
Development of Magnetic Nanoparticles as Microwave-Specific Catalysts for the Rapid, Low-Temperature Synthesis of Formalin Solutions
Correspondence on Microwave Effects in Organic Synthesis