Defining Active Catalyst Structure and Reaction Pathways from ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Operando XAFS: Dehydrogenation of Dimethylaminoborane by Rhodium Clusters

August 5, 2009

Journal Article

Defining Active Catalyst Structure and Reaction Pathways from ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Operando XAFS: Dehydrogenation of Dimethylaminoborane by Rhodium Clusters

Abstract

We present the results of a detailed operando XAFS and density functional theory (DFT) based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) investigation of the proposed mechanism of dehydrogenation of dimethylaminoborane (DMAB) by a homogeneous Rh4 cluster catalyst. Our AIMD simulations reveal that the previously proposed Rh structures are highly fluxional exhibiting both metal cluster and ligand isomerizations and dissociaton which can only be accounted for by a examining finite temperature ensemble as generated by AIMD. It is found that a highly fluxional species Rh4((H2BNMe2)82+ is fully compatible with operando XAFS measurements which suggest that this species may be the catalyst resting state. Based on this assignment we propose a catalytic mechanism for DMAB dehydrogenation which exhibits a maximum energy barrier of 24 kcal/mol, which is half that observed for the uncatalyzed thermal reaction. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences program, and was performed in part using the Molecular Science Computing Facility (MSCF) in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE national scientific user facility located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Revised: July 2, 2010 | Published: August 5, 2009

Citation

Rousseau R.J., G.K. Schenter, J.L. Fulton, J.C. Linehan, M.H. Engelhard, and T. Autrey. 2009. Defining Active Catalyst Structure and Reaction Pathways from ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Operando XAFS: Dehydrogenation of Dimethylaminoborane by Rhodium Clusters. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131, no. 30:10516-10524. PNNL-SA-64880.