BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20250816T083619EDT-4930K1lGWG@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20250816T123619Z DESCRIPTION:Abstract:\n\nA major focus of green and sustainable chemistry r esearch has been to try to find ways to produce the same chemicals we use today from sustainable sources. Such a challenge usually involves the deco nstruction and major modification of biomass’s three constituent polymers: cellulose and hemicellulose\, which are both polysaccharides\; and lignin \, which is a polymer of phenyl propanoid sub-units. If these three polyme rs can be broken down into sugars or lignin monomers\, multi-step biologic al and catalytic processes are then required to produce molecules identica l to those currently derived from petroleum. In both depolymerization and catalytic upgrading\, the biggest challenge is not achieving the desired r eaction\, but rather avoiding being outcompeted by other\, detrimental rea ctions\, such as degradation reactions\, side reactions\, or catalyst deac tivation. These issues\, along with the complexity of transforming natural structures to petroleum structures\, has plagued the development of bioba sed chemicals.\n\nIn this talk\, I will present several approaches to thes e challenges that my lab has developed\, which notably preserve and build on these natural structures\, rather than transforming them into petroleum -like replacements. I will show how we can use functionalization chemistry \, both during lignin extraction and polysaccharide depolymerization\, to reversibly ‘trap’ stabilized intermediate molecules\, preserve their struc ture\, and facilitate their high-yield upgrading1\,2. I will also discuss how targeted surface modifications on the heterogeneous catalysts associat ed with these transformations can lead to dramatic changes in activity\, s tability and selectivity\, even in the presence of highly oxygenated renew able streams3\,4. Finally\, I will discuss how this same functionalization can be used to create new commodity chemicals\, including polymers\, that build new products around these preserved natural structures\, as opposed to trying to replicate petroleum structures5\,6. I will discuss how the p resence of these natural structures leads to molecules that are\, by their very design\, much easier to produce and more sustainable than current al ternatives.\n\nReferences:\n\n1 L. Shuai\, M. T. Amiri\, Y. M. Questell-Sa ntiago\, F. Héroguel\, Y. Li\, H. Kim\, R. Meilan\, C. Chapple\, J. Ralph and J. S. Luterbacher\, Science\, 2016\, 354\, 329–333.\n\n2 Y. M. Questel l-Santiago\, R. Zambrano-Varela\, M. T. Amiri and J. S. Luterbacher\, Nat. Chem.\, 2018\, 1222–1228.\n\n3 J. H. Yeap\, F. Héroguel\, R. L. Shahab\, B. Rozmysłowicz\, M. H. Studer and J. S. Luterbacher\, ACS Catal.\, 2018\, 8\, 10769–10773.\n\n4 B. P. Le Monnier\, F. Wells\, F. Talebkeikhah and J . S. Luterbacher\, Adv. Mater.\, 2019\, 31\, 1904276.\n\n5 A. O. Komarova\ , G. R. Dick and J. S. Luterbacher\, Green Chem.\, 2021\, 23\, 4790–4799. \n\n6 L. P. Manker\, G. R. Dick\, A. Demongeot\, M. A. Hedou\, C. Rayroud\ , T. Rambert\, M. J. Jones\, I. Sulaeva\, M. Vieli\, Y. Leterrier\, A. Pot thast\, F. Maréchal\, V. Michaud\, H.-A. Klok and J. S. Luterbacher\, Nat. Chem.\, 2022\, 1–9.\n\n \n\nBio:\n\nJeremy Luterbacher was born in Switze rland in 1984 and received a B.Sc and M.Sc. in chemical engineering from t he École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL)\, Switzerland in 2007. He spent a year as a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working in Jeff Tester’s lab. Jeremy then moved to Cornel l University in Ithaca\, New York\, to pursue doctoral studies in Prof. La rry Walker’s lab. After receiving his PhD in 2012\, Jeremy joined the Grea t Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison a s a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Scholar under the super vision of Prof. Jim Dumesic. In 2014\, Jeremy returned to EPFL as a Tenure -Track Assistant Professor and head of the Laboratory of Sustainable and C atalytic Processing. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021.\n\nSi nce arriving at EPFL\, Jeremy has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) starting grant in 2017 and a Swiss National Science Foundation Cons olidator Grant in 2023. In 2019\, he received the Werner Prize from the Sw iss Chemical Society for outstanding independent chemical research in Swit zerland. His work on lignin stabilization was recognized by the 2019 EPFL Latsis prize and the 2021 ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Lectures hip. He is also an associate editor at Science Advances.\n DTSTART:20231024T170000Z DTEND:20231024T183000Z LOCATION:OM 10\, Maass Chemistry Building\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 0B8\, 801 rue Sherbrooke Ouest SUMMARY:Chemical Society Seminar: Jeremy Luterbacher - Build back better: p reserving and building on natural structures to make new biobased chemical s and materials URL:/chemistry/channels/event/chemical-society-seminar -jeremy-luterbacher-build-back-better-preserving-and-building-natural-3492 46 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR