Michelle van Dongen from the group of Prof. Joost Reek and Dr. Ioana Ilie (UvA), will visit Prof. dr. Makoto Fujita and dr. Hiroki Takezawaat at University of Tokyo, Japan.

Visit: 2 months

The usage of transition metal catalysts (TMC) in water or even the complex cellular environment has been limited by the TMC’s insolubility, deactivation and unwanted side reactivity. One way to battle their challenges is to encapsulate the catalyst into a water-soluble metal organic cage. This introduces a confined space around the catalyst which can aid in improved solubilization, stabilization and reactivity. However, the encapsulation of TMC into these cages is not always straightforward. Traditional solvent-based methods are often unsuccessful, even though a catalyst should fit in the cage based on size, charge and cage-guest interactions. In this exchange project, we aim to explore mechanochemistry as an alternative to the traditional solvent-based method for the encapsulation of different metal complexes into metal organic cages and then study their cage effects for metal-catalyzed transformations in water. This collaboration nicely combines the expertise of both groups: mechanochemical synthesis (Fujita) and caged confined catalysis in water and biorelevant media (Reek’s group). During the 2 month exchange, I will conduct the mechanochemical synthesis, cage-catalyst encapsulation as well as the required characterization in the Fujita lab. Their group has extensive expertise in the use of mechanochemistry specifically for novel cage architectures and cage-guest encapsulation and has various ball-mill set-ups available. This expertise is new to our own group and I can’t wait to acquire new skills in using mechanochemistry for this purpose. We are excited to start the collaboration and look forward to expanding the scope of transition metal catalysts in metal organic cages as well as acquiring a more fundamental understanding in the factors governing successful solvent-based and mechanochemical cage-catalyst encapsulation.