Exploring Low-valent Pnictogen Species towards Asymmetric Redox Catalysis

Objective

The European chemical industry is a global leader, generating over €655 billion in annual sales and 12% of manufacturing employment. Catalysis underpins most chemical manufacturing, yet current processes still rely heavily on scarce, expensive, and geopolitically sensitive transition metals (TMs), such as rhodium, palladium or iridium. To ensure resource independence and achieve Horizon Europe’s strategic objectives, there is an urgent need for sustainable, cost-effective catalytic alternatives. PICNIC, led by Dr Irene Sánchez Sordo (ISS), addresses this challenge by pioneering the use of low-valent pnictogen (Pn) species, focusing on Sb and Bi, as earth-abundant and inexpensive catalysts for carbon–fluoride bond activation and formation of new bonds. In addition, enantioselective redox transformations remain virtually inaccessible to main-group (MG) elements, leaving a critical knowledge gap. PICNIC will address this challenge by exploring the reactivity and mechanistic landscape of Pn(I)/Pn(III) redox processes, unlocking first-in-class catalytic methodologies based on readily available elements and tackling current issues related to persistence and bioaccumulation of organofluorine compounds in the environment. The project integrates rational ligand design, mechanistic studies, and catalytic development through a bottom-up strategy: from stoichiometric investigations to racemic catalysis, culminating in enantioselective applications. PICNIC’s multidisciplinary approach bridges hardcore inorganic and organic methodologies, and leverages OP’s EU-wide collaboration network, including experts in computational chemistry and spectroscopy. By replacing scarce TMs with abundant MG elements, PICNIC aligns with the EU Green Deal 2050, the Horizon Europe Sustainable Development strategy, and multiple UN SDGs by reducing CO2 emissions and dependence on critical raw materials, thus enabling next-generation sustainable catalysis.