Metal Complex Catalysis in Conversion of Natural Gas to Value-Added Products

Norway has large reserves of natural gas. Today, it is mainly exported as is, with only a minor part being processed domestically into value-added products. This project is aimed at contributing to economically and ecologically improved processes for conv erting natural gas into value-added products by the use of metal complex catalysis. The project is an extension of work previously done in the Tilset group at the University of Oslo. The project's Dr. Scient. candidate will work on synthesis, characterisa tion and reactivity of organometallic complexes which are interesting catalyst candidates for activation and functionalisation of alkanes. This is an extension of earlier work on methane activation into the crucial functionalisation step, yielding oxygena tes.