Abstracts

 

Andraos, John, 5B, CareerChem

In recent years there has been a surge of research in discovering multi-component reactions (MCRs) for the synthesis of ring containing compounds, particularly heterocycles, found in important pharmaceutical and agrichemical products. This talk will demonstrate how connectivity analysis may be used to discover new MCRs not yet documented and to discover new ways of synthesizing known MCR adducts by a combinatorial approach. In the former case, the most common synthons appearing in named organic reactions are used to generate three-component MCRs (3-MCRs). In the latter case, the Biginelli adduct is fully explored with respect to all possible ways of making it via 3-MCRs. Also, the combinatorial approach will be demonstrated for the synthesis of various heterocycles such as pyridines, dihydropyridines, pyrroles, indoles, and pyrimidines. The probability that known MCRs are in fact ""green"" with respect to target threshold atom economy and reaction yield values exceeding 60% and 80%, respectively will also be revealed.

 

Baker, Tom, 5B, University of Ottawa

The Lignoworks Bioproducts and Chemicals NSERC Strategic Research Network is focused on the valorization of lignin in support of Canada's Forest Products industry. Work in the Centre for Catalysis Research and Innovation at uOttawa is focused on design, synthesis and testing of base-metal, aerobic oxidation catalysts to obtain value-added aromatic chemicals from lignin.

 

Baumgartner, Thomas, Moderator 1A, Poster, University of Calgary, Department of Chemistry

This presentation will highlight our efforts towards designing organophosphorus-based, conjugated materials for application in sustainable energy applications ranging from Organic Light-Emitting Diodes to Organic Photovoltaics. Our groundbreaking research has established that the versatile nature of phosphorus offers considerable promise for the development of functional materials with unique properties, and provides a broad range of possibilities towards efficiently modifying the electronic properties of the product materials for reduced power consumption, or power generation, respectively.

 

Berlinguette, Curtis, 5B, University of Calgary

The overarching goal of our program is to improve the efficiency of converting sunlight to electrical and chemical energy. This talk will provide an overview of our research efforts targeted at: (i) designing novel organic and metal light-harvesting complexes for applications in the dye-sensitized solar cell; and (ii ) developing commercially viable water oxidation catalysts for storing electrical energy in hydrogen fuels.

 

Boyd, Alaina, Poster, Queen's University

Microalgae are a potential source of biofuel that do not require arable land or potable water, and can use waste CO2 for growth. The major disadvantage of using microalgae is the need to dry the cells in order to extract oil using traditional solvents. We propose a new, lower energy extraction process that could make biofuel from microalgae even greener, through the use of switchable hydrophilicity solvents.

 

Carley, Jonathan, 1A, CO2 Solution

CO2 Solution Inc. of Quebec City is commercializing a patented enzymatic technology platform that enables the efficient capture and mitigation of carbon dioxide from the effluent gases of fossil fueled power plants and other emissions intensive industries. The technology can overcome the cost challenges associated with conventional CO2 capture methods, while leveraging existing chemical processes already known to the industry, providing an effective path to market. The basis of this breakthrough technology will be discussed, along with testing results achieved, commercialization plans and CO2 Solution's related global collaborations.

 

Chan, Nicky, Poster, Queen's University

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is a dynamic tool for the synthesis of novel value added polymeric materials with a wide range of applications in current and emerging markets. Despite its vast economic potential, industrial implementation has been limited due to concerns over toxicity, environmental impact as well as monetary cost associated with the high metal catalyst concentrations required. Herein, investigations into recent advances in ATRP chemistry that significantly reduce cata lyst usage, as well as scale-up to efficient continuous processes are presented.

 

Chung, Hilary, Poster, Queen's University

Micellar-Enhanced Ultrafiltration (MEUF) is a new approach for tertiary treatment of wastewater to remove organic contaminants, including pharmaceutical compounds. Ideally, it can be done with a low-cost, low-toxicity surfactant additive that is easily recovered. To characterize MEUF, we have investigated interactions of model surfactants and sulfonamide antibiotics by NMR and semi-equilibrium dialysis (SED) methods. This will provide a methodology to predict MEUF efficiency for a wide range of contaminants that might be found in wastewater.

 

Clavette, Christian, Poster, University of Ottawa

Reactions allowing direct formation of carbon-nitrogen bonds from alkenes or alkynes are highly desirable and continue to stimulate intense research activity. Recently, efforts from our group have been directed towards the development of concerted pathways for the amination of such substrates, obviating the need for organometallic catalysts. For example, hydrazides have been shown to undergo hydroamination or aminocarbonylation of alkenes under thermal conditions.1 The latter intramolecular proces s is stereospecific (syn addition) and an aminoisocyanate intermediate is proposed for the observed reactivity. Recent results including the scope of this reaction and parent iminoisocyanate reactivity will be presented.

 

Cranston, Emily, 1A, McMaster University

By learning from nature and using bio-components, we can engineer high-performance materials with improved functionality. A thorough understanding of interfacial properties is necessary to design composites with enhanced compatibility between components and favourable material properties overall. An investigation of such properties, including chemical interactions, morphology, adhesion, friction, and attractive and repulsive forces, has been performed on various biomimetic thin films containing cellulose, the most abundant biomacromolecule in nature.

 

Dean, Darrell, Poster, Queen's University

Over half of the energy that is generated by a diesel-powered, internal combustion engine is lost as waste heat, performing no work to propel the vehicle forward or power its auxiliary components. In order to rectify this situation, we have proposed the introduction of a thermally regenerative fuel cell (TRFC), which would capture some of that waste heat and convert it to electricity. The latest results toward such a system will be discussed.

 

Dean, Rebecca, Poster, Memorial University

New developments towards the synthesis of biodegradable and/or bioassimable plastics have been gaining in popularity throughout the past decade. The steadily decreasing supply of fossil fuels, coupled with increased environmental awareness, has spurred an interest in alternative, renewable feedstocks for use in a variety of applications. Specifically, our group is studying the use of Group 1 and early transition metal complexes for the catalytic synthesis of polycarbonates and polyesters from rene wable feedstocks. Recent results including synthetic methods and characterization of these complexes and polymers will be presented.

 

Farrell, Jeffrey M., Poster, University of Toronto

Transition metals are invaluable for many industrially relevant chemical transformations. However, their expense, toxicity and regulatory restrictions encourage the development of analogous metal-free chemistry. In this work, a new approach to metal-free transfer hydrogenation is demonstrated using Tris(pentafluorophenyl)boron as a catalyst and the inexpensive diispropylamine as a hydrogen donor.

 

Gernigon, Nicolas, Poster, University of Alberta, Edmonton

Amides are one of the most important functional groups in Nature. They are found in the structure of many synthetic pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and food additives that are essential to our daily life. Current methods to form amide bonds from carboxylic acids are suboptimal. Indirect methods require the pre-activation of the carboxylic acid into a reactive derivative and direct methods require coupling reagents that are expensive, wasteful, and often toxic. Our proposed methodology employs boronic acids as catalysts to form amides and peptides directly from carboxylic acids and amines under practical conditions at room temperature. In 1996, Yamamoto and coworkers described the use of electron-poor arylboronic acids as catalysts for direct amidations. However, high temperature and long reaction times were required. Our recent studies highlight the exceptional ability of ortho-halophenylboronic acids to serve as recoverable catalysts for direct amidations of carboxylic acids under mild and waste-free conditions at room temperature. Insights into the possible mechanism will also be discussed.

 

Gundersen, Maria, Poster, Université de Montreal

Transglutaminases are biocatalysts that promote acyltransfer reactions, which lead to amide bond formation. Microbial transglutaminases (MTG) are widely used in industry to alter texture and appearance of food. We have investigated substrate specificity of MTG, by screening a wide variety of amines, using HPLC-MS. Experimental results indicate a broad tolerance of substrates. Better knowledge of MTG will enable its development as a more general tool for cross-linking a peptide or a protein with a variety of chemical compounds.

 

Hayes, Paul, 5B, University of Lethbridge

Polylactide is a biodegradable, biocompatible polymer which is synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of lactide. Since lactide is derived from renewable feedstocks, polylactide has beome an attractive alternative to conventional polyolefins. We have developed a diverse family of coordinatively and electronically unsaturated cationic zinc complexes supported by neutral dibenzofuran-based pincer ligands. These complexes are extremely active lactide polymerization catalysts at ambient temperature. The synthesis, characterization, mechanism and polymerization activity of these complexes will be discussed in detail.

 

Hudson, Reuben, Poster, McGill University

Magnetic nanoparticles offer a simple, easy, and environmentally benign means for catalyst recycling. Often, magnetic nanoparticles are used only as supports for anchoring homogenous or heterogeneous catalysts. Our research focuses on the use of bimetallic nanoparticles as both the support and catalyst for organic transformations.

 

Johnson, Abby, Poster, University of Massachusetts Boston

Analysis of sunflower oil was performed using the direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization technique coupled with mass spectrometry.  Characterization of triglycerides is achieved without the use of saponification or derivatization sample preparation steps.  Detection and characterization of minor oil components, including pesticide residues, oxidation products, phytosterols, vitamin E, and waxes was investigated.

 

Khalil, Hamdy, 2A, Woodbridge Group

The selection, development, valdation and commercialization of green chemistry in the automotive industry encounter unique hurdles that must be overcomed. The subject matter will be presented.

 

Le Van Mao, Raymond, Poster, Concordia University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

An entirely catalytic process performed in a one-pot system for conversion and product extraction has been developed (AC3B technology). Esters of levulinic acid and other organic acids, having high commercial values as fuels and chemicals, are produced in high yields by using a combination of liquid and solid acidic catalysts, and a special oxidative reaction medium. Feedstocks include materials containing cellulose and hemicellulose such as forest and agricultural residues, municipal wastes or sw itch grass. Preliminary energy and economic assessment is very positive.

 

Luska, Kylie L., Poster, McGill University

Functionalized imidazolium ionic liquids (FILs) can provide stable and catalytically active metal nanoparticles (NPs) as these ligands provide both electrostatic and covalent stabilization. The use of FILs also allows for the development of modular heterogeneous catalysts as various parameters of the FILs can be altered to impact such NP properties as size, catalytic activity and selectivity. We have synthesized Pd and Rh NPs stabilized by phosphine FILs, which have been employed as olefin and a rene hydrogenation catalysts respectively.

 

Maguire, Steve, 5A, McGill University

This paper explores the intersection of the fields of chemistry and business sustainability and proposes a four-pronged research agenda:(1) green chemistry as a social movement affecting multiple industries;(2) innovation and substitution as social and political, not simply economic, phenomena;(3) business logics for implementing green chemistry; and(4)risk translation whereby chemical risks to health or the environment become associated with reputational, legal and other risks borne by chemical risk-producing organizations.

 

Mahdi, Tayseer, Poster, University of Toronto

The development of metal-free hydrogenation catalysts capable of reducing unsaturated nitrogen-containing compounds under mild conditions has fueled considerable research interest. Recent investigations have found that catalytic systems involving frustrated Lewis pairs (FLP) for hydrogenations demonstrate certain advantages over existing catalytic reductions. A series of sterically hindered alkenyl boranes have been found to function as FLPs in the presence of bulky Lewis bases to heterolytically split H2 and catalyze the direct hydrogenation of bulky aldimines.

 

Menard, Gabriel, Poster, Department of Chemistry, U of Toronto

Rapidly increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have resulted in efforts to limit emissions in order to avoid irreversible climate change. Using naturally abundant starting materials, such as aluminum, for the conversion of CO2 to an important fuel (methanol) or an important chemical feedstock (carbon monoxide), could generate new strategies for mitigating CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Our group is investigating the chemistry of such transformations and recent progress will be described in this presentation.

 

Milne, Isla, Poster, McGill University

This paper reports on an analysis of green chemistry innovations from the perspective of business and sustainability. Using qualitative methods and drawing on multiple sources (e.g. green chemistry awards; trade journals), analysis characterized innovations as well as the incumbent technologies (potentially) substituted; and identified the business cases explicitly or implicitly made for green chemistry. Claimed benefits are compared with empirical findings; sectoral, technological and other patte rns are interpreted; and implications of the research are discussed.

 

Moores, Audrey, 1A, McGill University

A new hybrid material is reported: PdNPs@CNCs consisting of monodisperse Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) evenly deposited onto colloidal cellulose nanocrystallites (CNCs). This material proved an active catalyst for the hydrogenation reaction of phenol to cyclohexanone in water as a solvent, under mild conditions. The catalyst perfomed well in the Heck coupling of styrene and iodobenzene. CNCs constitute a highly crystalline, ordered and yet accessible green material easily obtained from wood pulp.

 

Myers, John, 4A, Environmental Health Sciences

Inherent in the definition of green chemistry is designing materials that eliminate or reduce hazard. What guidelines can toxicology offer to help? We know more about chemical properties than is reflected in the safety information to which companies and regulators routinely turn. As green chemists create the next generation of materials, they need access to the most current environmental health sciences. This session is a primer on EHS, from basic understanding to cutting edge approaches.

 

Omari, Khaled W., Poster, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Chitosan is formed through deacetylation of chitin. Chitin is the most abundant biopolymer in the oceans and the second most abundant biopolymer on the earth after cellulose. As such, they should be investigated as potential renewable feedstocks. This poster will describe our recent research efforts towards this goal. A range of 'green' techniques has been used and promising results have been obtained using water as the reaction medium, microwave irradiation and acid catalysis.

 

Osten, Kimberly M., Poster, University of British Columbia

Interest in biodegradable polymers from renewable feedstocks has been a growing area of research because of their various applications, including the potential replacement of non-biodegradable plastics currently in use today. Interest has been particularly focused on the use of lactide as a monomer feedstock to produce poly(lactide) or PLA, as it can be produced from sustainable processes such as corn fermentation and the resulting biodegradable polymer is suitable for many useful materials applications1.
Our group has published the discovery of a dinuclear indium alkoxy-bridged catalyst (see below) that was active in the polymerization of lactide, converting 200 eq. of racemic lactide to PLA in 30 minutes (25 °C, CD2Cl2)2. The polymerization was also mildly isoselective (forming isotactic PLA) with Pm values ranging from 0.53-0.622. Recent work with this catalyst design has been to introduce new functional groups into the ligand design. Particular areas of focus include changing the substituents on the dimethylated amine located on the cylcohexane backbone, as well as substituting bulkier groups for the tert-butyl groups on the aromatic portion of the ligand. It is our intent that changing the environment around the metal centre through these ligands variations will allow for increased stereocontrol during the polymerization of lactide.

 

Payne, Philippa R., Poster, University of British Columbia

Highlighting recent advancements in the application and development of Group 4 and 5 precatalysts supported by N,O-chelating ligands (eg amidate, ureate) for the efficient synthesis of amines. The methodologies of interest are the 100% atom-economic hydroaminoalkylation (C-C bond formation) and hydroamination (C-N bond formation) transformations. Improvements in reactivity and enantioselectivity for the synthesis of N-heterocyclic compounds and other nitrogen containing small molecules will be rep orted.

 

Payne, Samantha, Poster, Memorial University of Newfoundland

The solubility of a group of bio-sourced, renewable feedstocks has been evaluated in a variety of ""green""solvents in order to assess their viability for use in ""greener"" reaction schemes. Water was found to be an effective solvent, and as such reactions in this media were considered. In particular, the acid catalyzed microwave reactions of xylitol (a wood-derived sugar-alcohol) have been investigated, and the results of these studies will be presented.

 

Plancq, Baptiste, Poster, Université Laval

Recent results obtained for the iron(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reaction in aqueous media will be presented. We will focus on the practicality and generality of our method. Various aspects will be discussed, such as using environmentally benign solvents and an easy-to-handle chiral catalyst, and avoiding harsh reaction conditions."

Rak,Monika J.,Poster,McGill University,"Fe(0) nanoparticles (NPs) are used as a magnetically recoverable and reductive support for nanoparticulate catalysts. We present the synthesis of gold NPs (AuNPs) deposited on FeNPs, AuNPs@FeNPs. Pre-made FeNPs are synthesized in water using reported techniques. Subsequently gold I and III salts are added and reduced in situ in absence of any additional reductant. Synthesis conditions are discussed in relationship to the size/morphology obtained. The catalytic properties of the AuNPs@FeNPs composi te are also tested.

 

Robertson, Katherine, Poster, The Maritimes Centre for Green Chemistry, Saint Mary's University

We have performed a survey of carbon dioxide capture in phosphonium-based ionic liquids and end-capped polyethylene glycol using DETA (DETA = diethylene-triamine) as a model absorbent. The carbon dioxide adduct of DETA is zwitterionic and forms readily in both ionic and polymeric media. Crystals of the adduct have been isolated and its X-ray crystal structure has been determined. The adduct is hygroscopic and slowly decomposes in the presence of water. The adduct also decomposes with heating. Comp utational studies were performed examining possible structures for the adducts formed between DETA and CO2 in the gas phase.

 

Sajewycz, Mark, 2B, NORTON ROSE OR LLP

Patenting of green technologies is on the rise, capturing value resulting from research & development efforts spurred on by a global shift towards taking steps to reduce human impact on the environment. Green technology businesses are patenting for a combination of reasons: to block competitors with a view to enjoying monopoly power, to increase business valuations, to attracting investment, and to defend freedom to use. Patenting of green technologies presents its own unique issues, owing to the fact that green technologies often integrate multiple technologies, require collaboration between different organizations, and are requiring greater lead time to market. These patenting issues include: tension between filing immediately and perfecting the invention, careful claim drafting to avoid patentability rejections, joint development and other collaboration issues, and due diligence considerations during acquisition.

 

Sojonky, Andrew, 2B, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

This presentation will discuss how to protect your Intellectual Property (IP) in the green technology space. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is developing a new initiative that would expedite the examination of patent applications related to green technology. Other intellectual property offices around the world, including the United States, have already implemented green patenting rules. The focus of this presentation will be how to take advantage of these rules.

 

Stevanovic, Tatjana, Poster, Laval University

Bio-refinery and Green Chemistry, the new minor of the Wood Engineering program at the Department of Wood Sciences and Forestry of the Laval University, will be presented. This program is forming wood engineers who will be in great demand in the emerging fields of green construction, biomaterials, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals.

 

White, Michael, 2B, Queen's University

Keeping up to date with developments in green or sustainable chemistry is challenging because the field is so extensive, eclectic and interdisciplinary. No single research database or search engine adequately covers the discipline. This presentation will review the best public and commercial research database for tracking sustainable chemistry topics. Strategies for locating research articles, grants, data sets, environmental assessments, experts, patents, standards, and commercialization opportunities will be discussed.