Partnership with Leading Academic Research Centers

November 5, 2024 - Johnson Matthey Catalysis & Chiral Technologies announces strategic research partnerships with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, and ETH Zurich. These collaborations combine academic innovation with industrial expertise to accelerate development of transformative catalytic technologies for pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Bridging Academic Discovery and Industrial Application

Academic research laboratories generate groundbreaking catalytic methodologies that expand the boundaries of synthetic chemistry. However, translation from academic discovery to industrial implementation requires extensive development addressing scalability, cost, robustness, and regulatory compliance. Our partnerships create structured pathways for moving promising academic discoveries toward commercial realization.

Each partnership focuses on complementary research themes aligned with pharmaceutical industry needs and the academic laboratory’s expertise. Joint research programs receive co-funding from Johnson Matthey and academic institutions, enabling larger project scope than either partner could support independently. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers gain exposure to industrial perspectives while maintaining academic freedom to publish and present their findings.

The partnership model emphasizes true collaboration rather than simple sponsored research. Johnson Matthey scientists work directly with academic teams, contributing industrial perspective on practical challenges and opportunities. Regular technical exchanges, including laboratory visits and joint meetings, facilitate knowledge transfer and maintain project alignment with both academic advancement and industrial relevance.

MIT Partnership: Photocatalysis and Electrochemistry

Our collaboration with Professor Sarah Chen’s laboratory at MIT focuses on photocatalysis and electrocatalysis for pharmaceutical synthesis. These emerging methodologies offer alternatives to traditional thermal activation, enabling new disconnections and functional group transformations difficult to achieve through conventional approaches.

Photocatalysis harnesses visible light to generate reactive intermediates under mild conditions. Photoredox catalysis, in particular, has emerged as a powerful tool for radical generation and single-electron transfer processes. The MIT partnership is developing robust photocatalyst systems suitable for manufacturing scale, addressing challenges of light penetration in large reactors and catalyst recovery.

Initial results demonstrate remarkable reactivity for C-H functionalization reactions that traditionally require harsh conditions or elaborate substrate pre-activation. Photoredox-catalyzed arylation of heterocycles proceeds at room temperature under visible light irradiation, contrasting sharply with traditional methods requiring palladium catalysis at elevated temperatures.

Electrocatalysis enables chemical transformations driven by electrical current rather than chemical reagents. This approach offers exceptional control over reaction conditions through electrode potential adjustment. The MIT team has pioneered electrochemical C-H oxidation methods that generate valuable pharmaceutical intermediates without stoichiometric chemical oxidants.

Our joint work focuses on translating these methodologies to continuous-flow reactors amenable to pharmaceutical manufacturing. Flow electrochemistry provides excellent control over residence time and reaction parameters while enabling scale-independent optimization. Proof-of-concept demonstrations have produced multi-kilogram quantities of selected intermediates using flow electrochemical synthesis.

Oxford Partnership: Asymmetric Catalysis

The University of Oxford partnership with Professor James Morrison’s research group centers on developing next-generation asymmetric catalysts for challenging pharmaceutical transformations. Professor Morrison’s laboratory has pioneered novel chiral ligand designs that deliver exceptional stereoselectivity across diverse substrate classes.

A primary focus involves asymmetric C-H activation for direct construction of chiral centers from prochiral starting materials. Traditional approaches to chiral synthesis often require multi-step sequences with protecting group manipulations. Direct asymmetric C-H functionalization dramatically streamlines access to complex chiral structures.

The collaboration has produced several promising catalyst systems combining iridium or rhodium metal centers with custom chiral ligands. These catalysts enable enantioselective C-H borylation at benzylic and aliphatic positions with enantiomeric excess exceeding ninety-five percent. The resulting organoboron products serve as versatile intermediates for further elaboration.

Asymmetric hydroformylation represents another research thrust. This reaction adds carbon monoxide and hydrogen across olefins to generate aldehydes with simultaneous creation of a chiral center. Industrial hydroformylation produces billions of pounds of achiral products annually, but asymmetric variants capable of high enantioselectivity have proven elusive for many substrate types.

The Oxford team developed chiral phosphine-phosphite ligands that deliver excellent enantioselectivity for vinyl arene hydroformylation. Our collaborative efforts focus on expanding substrate scope to include aliphatic olefins and optimizing catalyst systems for manufacturing conditions. Early results show promise for several pharmaceutical intermediate applications.

ETH Zurich Partnership: Computational Catalyst Design

Our partnership with Professor Michael Weber’s computational chemistry group at ETH Zurich leverages advanced modeling and machine learning to accelerate catalyst discovery and optimization. Computational methods enable exploration of vast chemical spaces, predicting catalyst performance before synthesis, and identifying promising candidates for experimental validation.

Density functional theory calculations provide detailed insights into reaction mechanisms and structure-activity relationships. The ETH team has developed specialized computational protocols for transition metal catalysis that achieve exceptional accuracy in predicting reaction barriers and selectivities. These calculations guide rational catalyst design by revealing how structural modifications influence catalytic performance.

Machine learning models trained on large datasets of catalytic reactions enable prediction of catalyst performance for new substrates. The models learn complex relationships between substrate structures, catalyst structures, and reaction outcomes. Predictive models developed through our collaboration have successfully identified optimal catalyst-substrate matches, reducing experimental screening requirements.

A particularly exciting application involves de novo catalyst design. Rather than modifying existing catalysts, the computational approach generates entirely new catalyst structures optimized for specific transformations. Genetic algorithms explore catalyst design space, evaluating millions of hypothetical structures to identify those predicted to exhibit superior performance.

Initial experimental validation of computationally designed catalysts has yielded encouraging results. Several computer-generated phosphine ligands for asymmetric hydrogenation outperformed traditional ligands for challenging substrates. The success validates the computational design approach and motivates continued method development.

Collaborative Research Outcomes

The partnerships have already generated significant research outputs including peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and patent applications. Over fifteen joint publications have appeared in leading chemistry journals, advancing scientific knowledge while establishing our collaborative research credentials.

Several technologies developed through these partnerships have progressed into commercial development. A photoredox catalyst system from the MIT collaboration is undergoing scale-up development for pharmaceutical production. Computational ligand design methods from ETH Zurich have been integrated into our internal catalyst development workflows, accelerating time-to-market for customer-specific catalysts.

Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers involved in these programs have gained valuable industrial research experience. Several alumni from our partner laboratories have joined Johnson Matthey as full-time employees, bringing deep expertise in their research areas. This talent pipeline benefits both our organization and the broader scientific community.

Knowledge Exchange and Training

Beyond direct research collaboration, the partnerships facilitate broader knowledge exchange through seminars, workshops, and training programs. Johnson Matthey scientists present lectures at partner institutions, sharing industrial perspectives on catalysis challenges and opportunities. Academic partners visit our research facilities to observe industrial research practices and capabilities.

Joint workshops bring together larger groups from both organizations to discuss research directions, share unpublished results, and identify new collaboration opportunities. These gatherings foster personal relationships that enhance formal collaboration structures and often spawn new research initiatives.

We sponsor summer internships for undergraduate students from partner institutions, providing hands-on research experience in industrial laboratories. These programs introduce students to career opportunities in industrial research while providing our organization access to talented students who may later join as full-time employees.

Future Expansion

The success of our initial academic partnerships motivates expansion to additional institutions and research areas. We are actively exploring partnerships with leading research groups in Asia and additional European institutions to access complementary expertise and strengthen our global research network.

Future collaboration themes may include flow chemistry, sustainable catalysis, artificial intelligence for reaction optimization, and novel catalytic activation modes. We remain committed to supporting academic excellence while translating fundamental discoveries into practical technologies that benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing.

These partnerships exemplify our commitment to scientific leadership and innovation. By combining academic creativity with industrial resources and expertise, we accelerate the pace of catalysis advancement and ensure that groundbreaking discoveries reach practical application where they can create value for society.