Hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, natural gas, or coal are essential in many ways to modern life and its quality. The bulk of the world’s hydrocarbons is used for fuels, electrical power generation, and heating. The chemical, petrochemical, plastics and rubber industries are also dependent upon hydrocarbons as raw materials for their products. Indeed, most industrially significant synthetic chemicals are derived from petroleum sources. The overall oil use of the world now exceeds ten million metric tons a day. Ever increasing world population (about 6 billion to increase to 10 billion in a few decades) and energy consumption and finite non-renewable fossil fuel resources, which are going to be increasingly depleted, are clearly on a collision course. New solutions will be needed for the 21st century if we are to maintain the standard of living the industrialized world has gotten used to and the developing world is striving to achieve.
Recognizing the need for a long-range program of basic research and graduate education in the field of hydrocarbon chemistry, the University of Southern California established its "Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute" in 1977. Generous donations from Donald and Katherine Loker, as well as other friends and supporters helped build an outstanding facility and program.
Hydrocarbon Chemistry
Hydrocarbons, the principal compounds of oil and natural gas, have to be chemically altered to make useful products and materials. This is carried out by chemical and petrochemical industries in processes such as isomerization, alkylation homologation, etc. These processes are frequently catalyzed by acids and involve electron deficient intermediates called carbocations. The Loker Institute has pioneered new methods to study such processes and their mechanisms. Research is also aimed at more efficient utilization of fossil fuel resources including recycling of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) to useful materials. Studies are also directed towards developing new synthetic methodologies for chemical bond making and bond breaking processes. Polymeric materials derived from simple hydrocarbon precursors are the basis for new materials with exceptional electrical, optical, and magnetic properties. These materials find applications in information technology, photochemical energy conversion and biomedical devices.
Carbocarbons and their Chemistry
In studying hydrocarbons and their conversions, a wide variety of highly acidic systems called superacids have been developed. When higher valent Lewis acid fluorides such as SbF5 and TaF5 are combined with Brönsted acids such as HF or FSO3H, acids many billions of times stronger than sulfuric acid are obtained. In such superacidic media the lifetime of carbocations are sufficiently long to be examined by a variety of chemical and physical methods including nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry.
Acid catalyzed conversion of hydrocarbons such as cracking, isomerization, alkylation, oligo- and poly-condensation, etc. are of substantial importance. The fundamental chemistry of such hydrocarbon conversions involves carbocations and their reactions. Novel environmentally benign acid systems, including solid acids, are developed to overcome difficulties connected with toxic acids such as hydrofluoric or sulfuric acid. Isomerization and alkylation of saturated hydrocarbons to provide high octane gasoline are of particularly great importance in the petroleum industry. The Loker Institute has developed an environmentally friendly and practical alkylation process for the manufacture of high octane gasoline by using a modified hydrogen fluoride catalyst system of greatly reduced volatility and toxicity.
Recognizing the need for a long-range program of basic research and graduate education in the field of hydrocarbon chemistry, the University of Southern California established its "Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute" in 1977. Generous donations from Donald and Katherine Loker, as well as other friends and supporters helped build an outstanding facility and program.
Hydrocarbon Chemistry
Hydrocarbons, the principal compounds of oil and natural gas, have to be chemically altered to make useful products and materials. This is carried out by chemical and petrochemical industries in processes such as isomerization, alkylation homologation, etc. These processes are frequently catalyzed by acids and involve electron deficient intermediates called carbocations. The Loker Institute has pioneered new methods to study such processes and their mechanisms. Research is also aimed at more efficient utilization of fossil fuel resources including recycling of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) to useful materials. Studies are also directed towards developing new synthetic methodologies for chemical bond making and bond breaking processes. Polymeric materials derived from simple hydrocarbon precursors are the basis for new materials with exceptional electrical, optical, and magnetic properties. These materials find applications in information technology, photochemical energy conversion and biomedical devices.
Carbocarbons and their Chemistry
In studying hydrocarbons and their conversions, a wide variety of highly acidic systems called superacids have been developed. When higher valent Lewis acid fluorides such as SbF5 and TaF5 are combined with Brönsted acids such as HF or FSO3H, acids many billions of times stronger than sulfuric acid are obtained. In such superacidic media the lifetime of carbocations are sufficiently long to be examined by a variety of chemical and physical methods including nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry.
Acid catalyzed conversion of hydrocarbons such as cracking, isomerization, alkylation, oligo- and poly-condensation, etc. are of substantial importance. The fundamental chemistry of such hydrocarbon conversions involves carbocations and their reactions. Novel environmentally benign acid systems, including solid acids, are developed to overcome difficulties connected with toxic acids such as hydrofluoric or sulfuric acid. Isomerization and alkylation of saturated hydrocarbons to provide high octane gasoline are of particularly great importance in the petroleum industry. The Loker Institute has developed an environmentally friendly and practical alkylation process for the manufacture of high octane gasoline by using a modified hydrogen fluoride catalyst system of greatly reduced volatility and toxicity.
In addition, the use of superacidic catalysts allow new ways to hydro-treat coals, shale oil, tar sands and other heavy petroleum sources and residues, and yield liquid hydrocarbons. New and environmentally safe gasoline and diesel fuel additives were also developed, resulting in higher octane gasoline and higher octane diesel fuels. These additives have also resulted in cleaner burning fuels and opened the way to exclude currently used other toxic additives.
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