Belgium : Phd Position in Organic Synthesis Project Funded by DBOF Scholarships

The scholarships are targeted at candidates from non-EEA countries (European Economic Area = European Union + Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)

See below for the full list of topics and application forms with deadlines

Applications are invited from enthusiastic graduates in any relevant science and engineering area with an excellent study track record.
We offer a challenging research environment and an intense experience leading to a PhD degree.

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated hyperbranched poly(arylene oxindole) for hydrolysis of cellulose 

Promoter: Wim Dehaen, Bert Sels and Mario Smet

Description: Acidic hydrolysis of cellulose is an attractive route to produce glucose in a sustainable way without direct competition with food supply. However, due to its crystalline structure, cellulose is highly resistant to hydrolysis, usually resulting in a slow process and many side products.
Highly branched polymers have numerous terminal groups which can easily be interconverted. They usually display a higher solubility than their linear counterparts and hence are excellent candidates for homogeneous catalysis if catalytic groups are introduced at the well exposed terminal groups on the hyperbranched polymer surface. Additionally, for the hydrolysis of cellulose, a good adsorption of the catalyst to the insoluble cellulose particles is likely to be crucial for efficient conversion.
Therefore, the hyperbranched poly(arylene oxindole)s recently developed in our group, are expected to have excellent characteristics for the development of highly efficient cellulose hydrolysis catalysts. They are relatively easily synthesized, can readily be decorated with numerous catalytically active terminal groups (such as sulfonic acid groups) and can additionally be functionalized with chemical groups specially intended to improve the adsorption to the cellulose particles. Moreover, they are perfectly stable under the expected reaction conditions (pH = ~0, ~150 °C).
The synthesis is accomplished by acid catalyzed polycondensation of A3 monomer and commercially available isatin as the B2 monomer. The polymer thus obtained will be sulfonated, resulting in a tuneable number of sulfonic acid groups. It is anticipated that the local concentration of sulfonic acid groups combined with the amide groups, which are able to bind to the cellulose via hydrogen bonding, will result in high hydrolytic acitivity, with minimal by-products formed due to the moderate acidity of the aromatic sulfonic acid groups and the buffer effect of the amide groups.
Crucial molecular characteristics will be varied in order to evaluate their effect on the catalytic activity, such as the molar mass and the number of sulfonic acid groups present. Moreover, linear analogues will be prepared and evaluated in order to assess the influence of the densely branched topology. Analogues containing additional amide groups will be synthesized using triamide as the A3 monomer. This will provide insight in the anticipated role of the amide groups as adsorbing entities. Finally, These hyperbranched molecules can readily be crosslinked, resulting in insoluble network particles. The catalytic activity of the latter will be evaluated as well, as they allow easy removal from the reaction mixture and hence facilitate the recycling of the catalyst.

Start date: 2010-10-01
Application date: 2010-07-01
Publication date: 2010-02-17
Financing: dbof-scholarship
Type of Position: scholarship
Source of Funding: DBOF
Duration of the Project : 4 years

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Further Information

Application Deadline : 1 July 2010

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Posted on 2010-02-21 04:20:34

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