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High temperatures
Research on prolysis reactions of simple organic compounds leads
to award for chemistry's Walter Trahanovsky.
- When most organic compunds are heated to temperatures of greater than
300 degrees Celsius they undergo significant decomposition and give rise
to very low yields of useful compounds.
But Walter Trahanovsky, professor of chemistry, and his research group typically
work with simple organic compounds at temperatures several hundreds of degrees
higher and obtain significant yields of useful products.
"The reason we can get away with this is short contact times,"
he said. "The molecules are heated only a fraction of a second and
in a vacuum."
The result is that unique chemical reactions occur under these conditions.
Some of the products of these reations are very reactive and can be studied
only at low temperatures, but some of the products are quite stable at room
temperature.
And the result has been numerous publications over the years by Trahanovsky
and his research group.
All of which has led to Trahanovsky recently being awarded fellowship status
by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He will
be officially recognized during the Fellows Forum Saturday, Feb. 14 in Seattle,
as part of the 2004 AAAS annual meeting.
He was one of 348 scientists and engineers so honored, including two other
Iowa State faculty members - Harley Moon, professor emeritus of veterinary
pathology, and Colin Scanes, professor of animal science.
Their selection was based upon their efforts to advance science or applications
that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. The AAAS is the
world's largest federation of scientists.
Trahanovsky feels his selection was due primarily to his work with pyrolysis,
or thermal reactions, of organic compounds.
"I'm sure that the award is based on my publication record and contributions
in this area," he said. "I was surprised, but honored with my
selection."
His first publication in this area came in 1967, shortly after he arrived
at Iowa State.
In addition to research on thermal reactions of organic compounds, Trahanovsky
also studies how these reactions can be used in the synthesis of complex
organic materials. Part of that work involves understanding fundamental
thermal reactions of coal, coal-derived liquids, and biomass, and how those
findings can be adapted to create more affordable fuels and chemicals.
And while pyrolysis of organic compounds was the main area of his research
efforts, it is not his only focus in the laboratory. Specifically he is
looking at how to convert cellulose and other components of plant biomass
to useful small molecules.
"Cellulose is a cheap material," he says. "The idea is that
the production of high-value compounds from renewable resources is more
likely to be economically feasible than the production of fuels."
But pyrolysis of organic compounds is still his first love in the laboratory.
"Working with organic compounds at high temperatures still holds a
lot of surprises and it's still not fully explored," he said. "While
we will continue to push biomass in our research efforts in the near future,
I would like to get back to the high temperature chemical reactions.
"We are moving into directions that could see some potential use in
the synthesis of complex organic compounds."
Around LAS
January 26 to February 8, 2004
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