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Overview
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AffiliationTelephone
Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry+44 (0) 191 33 42152

Biography

Russell obtained his MChem degree from the University of Oxford in 2002. His Part II project was conducted under the supervision of Professor Tony Downs working on GaN MOCVD precursors. Immediately afterwards, he spent a year working as an Assistant Forensic Toxicologist at the Forensic Science Service. In 2003 he embarked on an industrially funded (CASE) PhD at Imperial College London (sponsored by BP) under the supervision of Dr. George Britovsek. Russell’s PhD focussed on platinum mediated, homogeneous methane oxidation. After spending a year in the group of Professor Vernon Gibson as a Research Associate, Russell joined BP in 2008 working at the R&D centre at the BP Chemicals manufacturing site in Hull. His research at BP initially focussed on homogeneous catalysis before he moved into the Acetyls Research Group (ARG) and began working on the recently announced syngas to acetic acid process (SaaBreTM). Within ARG Russell worked on heterogeneous catalyst characterisation and post-mortem analysis, by-product analysis, and product quality and cleanup. In September 2015, Russell began his independent research career, taking up a position as Lecturer in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry at Durham University.

Research in the group is focussed on discovering new processes for the manufacture of chemicals and fuels from both fossil and biomass derived feedstocks. In April 2018, Russell commenced a prestigous EPSRC Manufacturing Fellowship to develop new manufacturing processes for more sustainable commodity chemicals. To date the group consists of 5 PhD students, 1 postdcotoral researcher and 2 MChem students. 

Current Research Interests

The overarching aim of research in the group is the development of new catalytic materials and catalytic processes. Experimental work spans homogeneous and heterogeneous boundaries, utilising multifunctional materials and exploiting cascade and multistep reactions to achieve our goals. Current activities within the group focus on:

  • Heterogeneous catalysis
  • Novel zeolite synthesis
  • Understanding of industrial catalysts
  • Alkane upgrading
  • Biomass conversion
  • Multifunctional materials
  • Surface organometallic chemistry
Publications

Book Chapters

Methane Activation over Zeolite Catalysts
Meera A. Shah and Russell A. Taylor*
In Heterogeneous Catalysis for Sustainable Energy (Wiley, L. Li, J. Hargreaves (Eds.))
Published May 2022. ISBN: 978-3-527-34485-7

Refereed Full Papers (* denotes corresponding author)

 (15) Tandem Reduction–Reoxidation Augments the Catalytic Activity of Sn-Beta Zeolites by Redispersion and Respeciation of SnO2 Clusters

Elise Peeters, Ibrahim Khalil, Pierre Eloy, Sergio Calderon-Ardila, Jan Dijkmans, Paola Ferrini, Damien P. Debecker, Russell A. Taylor, Alexios P. Douvalis, Michiel Dusselier*, and Bert F. Sels*

Chem. Mater., 2021, 33, 9366–9381

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c03265

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c03265

(14) Zinc oxide-modified mordenite as an effective catalyst for the dehydrogenation of (bio)ethanol to acetaldehyde

Samuel Raynes and Russell A. Taylor*

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021, 5, 2136-2148

DOI: 10.1039/d1se00091h

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2021/se/d1se00091h

(13) Framework Effects on Activation and Functionalisation of Methane in Zinc-Exchanged Zeolites

Meera A. Shah, Samuel Raynes, David C. Apperley and Russell A. Taylor*

ChemPhysChem2020, 21, 673-679 

 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201900973

https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cphc.201900973

(12) Direct conversion of methane to methanol with zeolites: towards understanding the role of extra-framework d-block metal and zeolite framework type

Samuel Raynes, Meera A. Shah and Russell A. Taylor*

Dalton Trans., 2019, 48, 10364–10384

DOI: 10.1039/c9dt00922a

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/DT/C9DT00922A#!divAbstract

 

 (11) Cp*Fe(Me2PCH2CH2PMe2)(CHO): Hydride shuttle reactivity of a thermally stable formyl complex

Joshua S.Sapsford, Sarah J.Gates, Laurence R.Doyle, Russell A.Taylor, SilviaDíez-González*, Andrew E.Ashley*

Inorganica Chimica Acta, 2019, 488, 201–207

DOI: 10.1016/j.ica.2019.01.022

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020169318317055?via%3Dihub

 

(10) Rapid transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone using ruthenium catalysts bearing commercially available and readily accessible nitrogen and phosphorous donor ligands

Drew J. Braden, Renan Cariou, John W. Shabaker, Russell A. Taylor*

Applied Catalysis A, General, 2019, 570, 367–375

DOI: 10.1016/j.apcata.2018.11.031

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926860X18305866?via%3Dihub

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 (9) Oxygen Insertion into Metal Carbon Bonds: Formation of Methylperoxo Pd(II) and Pt(II) Complexes via Photogenerated Dinuclear Intermediates

Allan R. Petersen, Russell A. Taylor, Inmaculada Vicente-Hernández, Philip R. Mallender, Harriet Olley, Andrew J. P. White, and George J. P. Britovsek.*

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2014, 136 (40), 14089–14099

DOI: 10.1021/ja5055143

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja5055143

 

 (8) Light-Driven Methyl Exchange Reactions in Square Planar Palladium(II) and Platinum(II) Complexes

Allan R. Petersen, Russell A. Taylor, Inmaculada Vicente-Hernández, Jasmin Heinzer, Andrew J. P. White, and George J. P. Britovsek.*

Organometallics, 2014, 33 (6),1453–1461

DOI: 10.1021/om500048t

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/om500048t

 

(7) Salt metathesis for the synthesis of M–Al and M–H–Al bonds

Ian M. Riddlestone, Juan Urbano, Nicholas Phillips, Michael J. Kelly, Dragoslav Vidovic, Joshua I. Bates, Russell Taylor Simon Aldridge.*

Dalton Transactions, 2013, 42, 249-258

DOI: 10.1039/C2DT31974H

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/dt/c2dt31974h

 

(6) σ-Alane Complexes of Chromium, Tungsten, and Manganese

Ian M. Riddlestone, Siân Edmonds, Paul A. Kaufman, Juan Urbano, Joshua I. Bates, Michael J. Kelly, Amber L. Thompson, Russell Taylor, Simon Aldridge.*

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012, 134 (5), 2551–2554

DOI: 10.1021/ja2119892

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja2119892

 

(5) First metal complexes of 6,6'-dihydroxy-2,2'-bipyridine: from molecular wires to applications in carbonylation catalysis

Christopher M. Conifer, Russell A. Taylor, David J. Law, Glenn J. Sunley, Andrew J. P. White, George J. P. Britovsek.*

Dalton Transactions 2011, 40(5), 1031-1033.

DOI: 10.1039/C0DT01526A

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/dt/c0dt01526a

 

(4) Towards photocatalytic alkane oxidation: the insertion of dioxygen into a platinum(II)-methyl bond

Russell A. Taylor, David J. Law, Glenn J. Sunley, Andrew J. P. White, George J. P. Britovsek.*

Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2009, 48(32), 5900-5903 [HOT PAPER]

DOI: 10.1002/anie.200806187

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.200806187/abstract

 

(3) Hydrogen bonding directs the H2O2 oxidation of platinum(II) to a cis-dihydroxo platinum(IV) complex

Russell A. Taylor, David J. Law, Glenn J. Sunley, Andrew J. P. White, George J. P. Britovsek.*

Chemical Communications 2008, (24), 2800-2802

DOI: 10.1039/B803370F

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2008/cc/b803370f

 

(2) Protonation of Platinum(II) Dialkyl Complexes Containing Ligands with Proximate H-Bonding Substituents.

George J. P. Britovsek,* Russell A. Taylor, Glenn J. Sunley, David J. Law, Andrew J. P. White.

Organometallics 2006, 25 (8), 2074-2079

DOI: 10.1021/om060036l

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/om060036l

 

(1) Crystal Structures of Tris(tert-butyl)boron, -aluminum, -gallium, and -indium: Nonplanarity of the AlC3 Skeleton and Evidence of Inter- and Intramolecular "Agostic" or Hyperconjugative Interactions.

Andrew R. Cowley, Anthony J. Downs,* Sarah Marchant, Victoria A. Macrae, Russell A. Taylor, Simon Parsons.

Organometallics, 2005, 24(23), 5702-5709

DOI: 10.1021/om050572y

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/om050572y

 

Patents

(1) US Patent Application (62/108,733)

Inventors: Russell Alan Taylor, Renan Cariou and John Shabaker

Applicant: BP International

Date filed: January 28, 2015

 

(2) WO2015193185

Title: IMPROVED CATALYTIC PERFORMANCE IN PROCESSES FOR PREPARING ACETIC ACID

Inventors: Berian John Daniel, John Glenn Sunley, Russell Alan Taylor, Gareth Gerald Armitage

Applicant: BP Chemicals Limited

Date filed: June 12, 2015

Research interests

  • Alkane Upgrading
  • Biomass Conversion
  • Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Multifunctional Materials
  • Surface Organometallic Chemistry

Esteem Indicators

  • 2000: Member of EPSRC Associate Peer Review College:
  • 2000: Treasurer of British Zeolite Association:

Publications

Journal Article

Supervision students