(201a) (Invited Talk) Mechanistic Insights into Deoxygenation Chemistry on Bimetallic Phosphides

Bimetallic catalysts are crystalline solids that consist of two different metals that can facilitate specific chemical reaction. The cooperative interactions between the two metals often result in higher stability, and functionality when compared to their monometallic counterparts. Adding non-metallic elements, such as phosphorous, allows for charge distribution between the metal and nonmetal atoms, which improves on these properties. Although bimetallic catalysts have been used in traditional chemical reactions, their application to biomass conversion is largely unexplored. In this presentation, I will share our work on deoxygenation of model aromatic compounds over different composition contained bimetallic catalysts (M_XMo_(2-X)P; M = Fe, Ru, Ni; X = 0.8, 1.0, 1.2) [3-5]. We explain our results in terms of binding energies, energetics along chemical transformation, and Bader charges.