In Search Of Cheap, Abundant Less Toxic Catalysts From Iron

Colombian chemist Maria Camila Aguilera is working on catalysts based on iron, which could open up cheaper, more abundant and less toxic alternatives to current palladium catalysts.

Aguilera, a fourth-year PhD researcher at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, says catalysts (a molecule used in very small amounts to carry out chemical reactions that would otherwise be impossible, inefficient, or very slow) are important in the synthesis of molecules that are relevant to our lives such as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.

Currently, the metal palladium is traditionally used in cross-coupling reactions because it works efficiently, but it is rare, expensive and toxic .

"These reactions combine two (or three) molecules together to create a more complex one and are mediated by metal-based catalysts," Aguilera says.

She says iron offers a great and more sustainable alternative because it is cheap, abundant in the earth, and much less toxic.

"However, iron chemistry for cross coupling reactions is very different to palladium’s and underexplored due to the challenges in studying it," she says, adding that by meticulously analyzing and defining the role of iron in how these reactions work, science can gain knowledge to support the development of new iron-catalyzed reactions.

"The fact that iron is underexplored has a reason, and it is that this type of chemistry is very challenging to study: it can be unpredictable and unstable, which means that as chemists we are required to be creative, extremely careful, patient, and open-mined to unprecedented or unexpected results," Aguilera says.

Cane-fields to Chemistry

Aguilera was born in Cali, Colombia, but raised in Palmira, a small city close-by in the heart of Colombia's main sugarcane-producing region.

"My father works in a plant that transforms sugar into alcohol for fuel and he used to talk to me about the process," she says. "I was fascinated by the power chemistry has to transform substances into entirely different products."

Aguilera says that in high school chemistry class, the first laboratory experiment she conducted involved simple reactions which resulted in striking color changes.

"This tangible aspect to science, where one can observe a process occur in real time, not just writing it out in a notebook, was hugely inspirational for me!" she says.

Aguilera would go on to pursue a degree in chemistry at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota and after finishing her last semester, she had the opportunity to go to the University of Rochester to perform research during the summer of 2018 in the Prof. Michael Neidig’s laboratory.

"These couple months of academic research reaffirmed my decision to continue my studies and pursue a PhD and I officially joined his lab as a PhD student in the fall of that year, and since then I have been able to work on exciting projects and collaborate with other scientists," she says.

Aguilera says although she has had the opportunity to work with amazing scientists from various countries in the Global South, the lack of funding and opportunities limit the blossoming of this talent.

"As citizens from the Global South, we experience global challenges in different ways from others, but this in turn allows us to bring unique perspectives and methods to do and view science that enrich and help drive scientific discovery," she says, "I firmly believe that inclusive practices have a huge impact on the development of knowledge and enrichment of the scientific community."

Another female scientist looking to harness catalysts is Mexican chemistry researcher Ana Cristina Garcia Alvarez.

Garcia-Alvarez has worked to understand a chemical process that mimics part of photosynthesis and could possibly produce hydrogen as part of clean energy solutions.