Synthesis and evaluation of novel covalent triazine frameworks for heterogeneous catalysis in flow systems

The aim of this research proposal is to contribute to the development of a new generation of
covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) as support material in heterogeneous catalysis. CTFs are the
next step in a long chain of development of functional nanoporous materials and are build up by
stitching organic molecules together into extended structures. The possibility to make these
materials by design and the exceptional high chemical stability that they exhibit, make them the
ideal candidate as catalyst support to enhance the performances of catalytic metal complexes. We
especially target CTFs with 2,2’-bipyridine functionalities embedded in their backbone. Therefore,
strategies to synthesize a broad range of bipyridine-based building blocks will be designed. The
bipyridine motif allows the anchoring of highly active metal complexes to the CTFs in order to
create recyclable, heterogeneous catalysts. Two state-of-the-art complexes are envisaged, iridium
(I) and ruthenium(II), which are active for the C-H borylation of arenes and the photocatalytic
Diels-Alder reaction, respectively. Two highly innovative conversions that are still problematic to
date. The supported catalysts will be evaluated using microreactor technology, which enables to
operate the reaction in a continuous flow mode. The concerted effort foreseen here on catalysis in
CTFs is expected to have a substantial impact on this emerging field and to contribute to the
sustainability of metal-based catalysis.