Nick Brunelli

Our group has expertise in the synthesis, characterization, and testing of heterogeneous catalytic materials. We seek to investigate structure-function relationships to elucidate mechanistic insights into catalytic reactions. This is challenging since most heterogeneous catalysts contain a non-uniform distribution of catalytic sites. We use homogeneous synthesis techniques to create materials with more uniform catalytic sites. Through tuning these materials on the atomic level, we are able to produce more uniform catalytic sites. The uniformity of the catalytic sites enables more active and selective catalysts to be designed and realized. The work has the potential to transform the production of valuable chemicals derived from petroleum and biomass sources.

Recent Publications:

2020

39. M. Gray, M. Hines, M. Parsutkar, A.J. Wahlstrom, N.A. Brunelli,* T.V. RajanBabu,* “On the Mechanism of Cobalt-Catalyzed Heterodimerization of Acrylates and 1,3-Dienes. Reaction Progress Kinetic Analysis and A Potential Role of Cationic Cobalt(I) Intermediates” (accepted).

38. M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Selective production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from fructose in the presence of an acid-functionalized SBA-15 catalyst modified with a sulfoxide polymer,” Molecular Systems Design and Engineering, 2020, 5, 257-268.

2019

37. A. Kane, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Impact of surface loading on catalytic activity of regular and low Micropore SBA-15 in the Knoevenagel Condensation,” AIChE Journal, 2019, 65 (12), e16791.

36. A. Parulkar, A.P. Spanos, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Synthesis and catalytic testing of Lewisacidic nano zeolite Beta for epoxide ring opening with alcohols,” Applied Catalysis A: General, 2019, 577, 28-34.

35. N. Deshpande, E.H. Cho, A.P. Spanos, L.-C. Lin, N.A. Brunelli,* “Tuning Molecular Structure of TertiaryAmine Catalysts for Glucose Isomerization,” Journal of Catalysis, 2019, 372, 119-127.

34. P. Ranadive, A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “Jet-Mixing Reactor for the Production of MonodisperseSilver Nanoparticles Using a Reduced Amount of Capping Agent,” Reaction Chemistry and Engineering, 2019, 4 (10), 1779-1789.

33. M.R. Whitaker, A. Parulkar, P. Ranadive, R. Joshi, N.A. Brunelli,* “Examining Acid Formation During theSelective Dehydration of Fructose to 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in DMSO and Water,” ChemSusChem, 2019, 12 (10), 2211-2219.

32. N. Olson, N. Deshpande, S. Gunduz, U.S. Ozkan, N.A. Brunelli,* “Utilizing Imogolite Nanotubes as aTunable Catalytic Material for the Selective Isomerization of Glucose to Fructose,” Catalysis Today, 2019, 323, 69-75.

31. N. Deshpande, A. Parulkar, R. Joshi, B. Diep, A. Kulkarni, N.A. Brunelli,* “Epoxide ring opening with alcohols using heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts: Mechanism and Regioselectivity,” Journal of Catalysis,2019, 370, 46-54.

2018

30. A. Parulkar, R. Joshi, N. Deshpande, N.A. Brunelli,* “Synthesis and Catalytic Testing of Lewis AcidicNano-MFI Zeolites for the Epoxide Ring Opening Reaction with Alcohol,” Applied Catalysis A: General,2018, 566, 25-32.

29. A. Parulkar, J.A. Thompson, M. Hurt, B.-Z. Zhan, N.A. Brunelli,* “Improving HydrodenitrogenationCatalyst Performance through Analyzing Hydrotreated Vacuum Gas Oil Using Ion Mobility-MassSpectrometry,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2018, 57 (27), 8845-8854.

2017

28. A. Parulkar, N.A. Brunelli,* “High-Yield Synthesis of ZIF-8 Nanoparticles Using StoichiometricReactants in a Jet-Mixing Reactor,” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2017, 56 (37),10384-10392.

27. N. Deshpande, L. Pattanaik, M.R. Whitaker, C.-T. Yang, L.-C. Lin, N.A. Brunelli,* “Selectively Converting Glucoseto Fructose Using Immobilized Tertiary Amines.” Journal of Catalysis 2017, 353, 205-210.

Honors: