IIT Roorkee Develop Sustainable Method For Converting Renewable Alcohols Into High-Value Chemicals

• New catalytic process offers a cleaner and more sustainable way to manufacture complex chemicals used in medicines and advanced materials
• Research published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications
• Earth-abundant nickel catalyst enables highly selective chemical synthesis using renewable feedstocks

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee have developed a sustainable catalytic method that converts renewable alcohols into complex organic molecules, important building blocks used in pharmaceuticals and advanced organic materials. Published in Nature Communications, the study marks a significant advancement in green chemistry by demonstrating how renewable feedstocks and an earth-abundant nickel catalyst can enable highly selective chemical synthesis.

The study, led by Prof. Debasis Banerjee from the Department of Chemistry, IIT Roorkee, demonstrates a ligand-enabled nickel catalytic process that efficiently converts biomass-derived alcohols into trisubstituted olefins and 1,3-dienes, two classes of industrially important building blocks widely used in the development of pharmaceuticals and advanced organic materials.

Conventional chemical synthesis often requires multiple reaction steps and expensive catalysts. The IIT Roorkee-led research introduces a modular and efficient catalytic approach using a commercially available, earth-abundant nickel catalyst, enabling high stereoselectivity while utilizing renewable alcohols as sustainable feedstocks.

Using this process, the researchers successfully synthesized 27 trisubstituted olefins with stereoselectivities of up to 98:2 (E/Z) and 23 highly selective 1,3-dienes with E/Z ratios greater than 20:1. The team also demonstrated the versatility of the methodology through the late-stage functionalization of biologically relevant molecules such as DL-galactose and α-tocopherol (Vitamin E), as well as the synthesis of a tamoxifen analogue and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, highlighting its broad applicability in medicinal and materials chemistry.

The researchers further uncovered the molecular-level mechanism of the catalytic reaction, providing valuable mechanistic insights that could guide the design of future sustainable catalytic systems.

Commenting on the achievement, Prof. K. K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, said that fundamental research in chemistry plays a vital role in enabling cleaner and more sustainable technologies. He noted that the publication in Nature Communications reflects IIT Roorkee's commitment to advancing high-quality research that addresses global scientific challenges while contributing to the future of sustainable chemical synthesis.

Highlighting the significance of the research, Prof. Debasis Banerjee said that the objective was to develop a catalytic platform capable of converting readily available renewable alcohols into structurally complex and industrially valuable molecules with high selectivity using an earth-abundant metal catalyst. He added that, beyond developing an efficient synthetic methodology, the study also provides mechanistic insights that can guide the design of future catalytic reactions based on renewable feedstocks.

The research aligns with the global transition toward green chemistry, where renewable feedstocks, energy-efficient catalytic processes and reduced chemical waste are becoming increasingly important. By utilizing biomass-derived alcohols as renewable feedstocks and replacing precious-metal catalysts with economical and earth-abundant nickel, the study advances environmentally responsible chemical synthesis while supporting the principles of sustainable manufacturing.

The research was carried out by Adrija Ghosh and Purushotam from IIT Roorkee in collaboration with Prof. Chao-Jun Li of McGill University, Canada. The study was supported by the Ministry of Education's STARS Programme and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) (formerly the Science and Engineering Research Board – SERB), Government of India. The student researchers also received support through the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF).

As industries worldwide move towards cleaner and more resource-efficient manufacturing technologies, this research expands the toolkit of sustainable synthetic chemistry. The methodology provides researchers with a new strategy for synthesizing complex organic molecules from renewable resources and is expected to inspire further advances in catalytic chemistry based on renewable feedstocks.