Cover Picture: The Guerbet Reaction Network – a Ball‐in‐a‐Maze‐Game or: Why Ru‐MACHO‐BH is Poor in Coupling two Ethanol to n‐Butanol (Chemistry ‐ Methods 4/2021). Issue 4 (1st April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ohligschläger, Andreas; van Staalduinen, Nils; Cormann, Carsten; Mühlhans, Jan; Wurm, Jan; Liauw, Marcel A.
• Is Part Of: Chemistry methods. Volume 1:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 177
• Page End: 177
• Publication Date: 2021-04-01
• Subjects: homogeneous catalysis -- solvent effects -- sustainable chemistry -- reaction kinetics -- time-resolved spectroscopy; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; 543
• DOI: 10.1002/cmtd.202100026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2628-9725

Abstract

Abstract : The Front Cover shows a playable version of the homogeneously catalyzed Guerbet‐coupling from ethanol to n ‐butanol. The 2D ball‐in‐a‐maze‐game is shown here because the reaction steps are either performed in presence of a redox catalyst (top‐down) or in presence of a base (left‐right). Both axes can be moved independently from each other and substances are connected with humps in the height of the activation barrier. Playing the game repeatedly for a defined time and writing down the outcomes (see blackboard) yields the composition of the reaction mixture at a given time. Alas, the highly active redox catalyst Ru‐MACHO shows unsatisfying yields and selectivities of n ‐butanol. But why? More information can be found in the Full Paper by Andreas Ohligschläger et al .