About this Research Topic
Nature uses assembly of metabolic systems to realize cascade reactions, maintaining the survival and growth of life. Similarly, sequential reactions in connected flow reactors can be utilized to provide efficient, scalable, and green routes to the synthesis of versatile organic molecules used as fuels, feedstocks, fertilizers, and so forth. Such a process, known as cascade reaction, aligns with concepts of domino, tandem, or multicomponent reactions where reactants are added simultaneously or sequentially to drive a series of reactions. Since their inception, cascade reactions have been widely employed to generate complex synthetic molecules, primarily in organic chemistry. With the recent prevalence of CO2 and nitrate reduction, small molecules such as CO2, NOx, and N2 have emerged as building blocks for producing value-added products, such as ethylene, ethanol, and urea, with the help of electro-, photo-, and biochemistry. By combining elementary steps and integrating them with external fields and efficient catalysts, the reaction efficiency and product selectivity can be significantly enhanced. Cascade catalysis not only expands the diversity of chemical synthetic pathways but also inspires and innovates sustainable green routes for chemical synthesis.
The goal of this Research Topic is to provide a comprehensive overview and stimulate increased efforts in cascade catalysis, combining electro-, photo-, thermo-, and biocatalysis to create a chemical synthesis library and innovate synthetic pathways for versatile organic molecules. This is enabled by intentional design of both catalysts and reactors including: (1) Efficient catalysts with well-defined surface structures and compositions to realize tandem catalysis. Catalysts with multiple active sites can be considered, such as single atom alloys, intermetallic, core-shell, and Janus nanoparticles. (2) Connected flow reactors integrating elementary steps to achieve continuous production of complex products. Rational design of synthetic pathways and allocation of reaction steps is necessitated. Each step can be conducted in an independent reactor, with or without the help of external fields such as biasing and heating, to minimize energy barrier, enhance energy efficiency, and maximize reactant utilization efficiency. Potential addition of product separation, purification, or characterization devices may also be considered between reactors to further enhance product quality and deepen our understanding of the reaction process.
We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:
• Design principle for tandem catalysis to achieve mutual alignment in reaction conditions, rates, and pathways
• Catalyst design to realize cascade reactions aiming at high activity, selectivity, and stability
• In situ or ex situ characterization of catalysts during reactions (e.g., electron microscopy, X-ray, UV/IR/Raman spectroscopy, etc.) to unveil the active sites, reaction pathways, and degradation mechanisms
• In situ or ex situ characterization of reaction pathways on specific catalysts
• Device engineering to enhance reactant utilization efficiency and product separation/collection
• Cell design to integrate electro-, photo-, thermo-, and biocatalysis for cascade reactions
• Comments and perspectives on future directions and commercialization of cascade reactions.
The goal of this Research Topic is to provide a comprehensive overview and stimulate increased efforts in cascade catalysis, combining electro-, photo-, thermo-, and biocatalysis to create a chemical synthesis library and innovate synthetic pathways for versatile organic molecules. This is enabled by intentional design of both catalysts and reactors including: (1) Efficient catalysts with well-defined surface structures and compositions to realize tandem catalysis. Catalysts with multiple active sites can be considered, such as single atom alloys, intermetallic, core-shell, and Janus nanoparticles. (2) Connected flow reactors integrating elementary steps to achieve continuous production of complex products. Rational design of synthetic pathways and allocation of reaction steps is necessitated. Each step can be conducted in an independent reactor, with or without the help of external fields such as biasing and heating, to minimize energy barrier, enhance energy efficiency, and maximize reactant utilization efficiency. Potential addition of product separation, purification, or characterization devices may also be considered between reactors to further enhance product quality and deepen our understanding of the reaction process.
We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:
• Design principle for tandem catalysis to achieve mutual alignment in reaction conditions, rates, and pathways
• Catalyst design to realize cascade reactions aiming at high activity, selectivity, and stability
• In situ or ex situ characterization of catalysts during reactions (e.g., electron microscopy, X-ray, UV/IR/Raman spectroscopy, etc.) to unveil the active sites, reaction pathways, and degradation mechanisms
• In situ or ex situ characterization of reaction pathways on specific catalysts
• Device engineering to enhance reactant utilization efficiency and product separation/collection
• Cell design to integrate electro-, photo-, thermo-, and biocatalysis for cascade reactions
• Comments and perspectives on future directions and commercialization of cascade reactions.
Keywords: cascade reaction, tandem catalysis, chemical synthesis, green chemistry, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, thermocatalysis, biocatalysis
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
