Full Text for April 2011, Volume 55, Number 2

 

Articles in This Issue:

Platinum Alloys for Jewellery and Industrial Use
Paolo Battaini of 8853 SpA, Italy, used an extensive series of metallographic analyses to investigate the microstructure of a range of platinum alloys, including several which are commonly used for manufacturing jewellery. Some of the alloys studied are also used in industry. The information presented in his article allows working cycles to be set up and failure analyses to be performed for the selected alloys. The crystallisation behaviour of as-cast alloy samples and the changes in microstructure after work hardening and annealing are also described.

 
Palladium's Role in the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Professors Heck, Suzuki and Negishi for their work on palladium-catalysed cross-coupling in organic synthesis. Dr Thomas Colacot celebrates the development and real world importance of this class of reactions. Heck coupling is used to synthesise active pharmaceutical ingredients, hydrocarbons, conducting polymers, light-emitting electrodes, dyes and natural products. The Negishi reaction has been used as an essential step in the synthesis of natural products and fine chemicals, and Suzuki coupling is widely used in the synthesis of pharmaceutical ingredients.

 

Platinum Group Metals Enhance Quality of Life
There are a number of well-established medical and biomedical applications in which the pgms play a vital role. These include the manufacture of specialised components for a range of devices including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, catheters, stents and neuromodulation devices. The properties of platinum which make it suitable for these applications include its biocompatibility, inertness within the body, durability, electrical conductivity and radiopacity. Platinum also finds use in anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and carboplatin. Platinum, the other pgms and their alloys will inevitably play a vital part in satisfying the growing need for advanced medical treatments.

 

Latest Rhodium Isotope Discovery
Thirty-eight isotopes of rhodium have been discovered since 1934, with the latest discovery in 2010. John Arblaster’s authoritative review collects together the first recorded reports of each isotope, including those discovered during highly secretive projects carried out at the time of the Second World War. Rhodium exists in nature as a single nuclide, ¹⁰³Rh, and the remaining thirty-seven artificial rhodium isotopes are tabulated with the names of their discoverers, half-lives, decay modes and dates of discovery.

 
High Purity Nanopowders Using Flame Spray Pyrolysis
Flame spray pyrolysis can be used to produce a wide array of high purity nanopowders ranging from single metal oxides such as alumina to more complex mixed oxides, metals and catalysts. Johnson Matthey now has its own Flame Spray Pyrolysis Facility which produces a range of nanopowders. Bénédicte Thiébaut of JMTC Sonning Common, UK, describes the facility and gives an example of a palladium catalyst made using the technique, in this issue's Final Analysis.

 

Conference Reviews:

Professor Ian Fairlamb of the University of York in the UK reviews the timely Dalton Discussion 12: Catalytic C-H and C-X Bond Activation which took place in September 2010, just a few weeks prior to the announcement on 6th October that the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry would be awarded for palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions. Platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium and ruthenium all feature in catalysed reactions discussed during the conference.

 

The fifth semi-annual conference in the Fuel Cells Science and Technology series was held in October 2010 in Zaragoza, Spain, with the theme 'Scientific Advances in Fuel Cell Systems'. Don Cameron, a consultant based in the UK, focuses on the papers involving the use of pgms in his review. Ever stricter environmental laws, combined with the high prices of gas and oil, emphasise the need for the best possible efficiency in utilising fuels. As such, PEM fuel cell catalysts and components, direct methanol and direct ethanol fuel cells drew a high level of interest at the event.

 
Judith Kinnaird of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, reviews the 11th International Platinum Symposium in Sudbury, Canada. This conference provided a forum for discussion of the geology, geochemistry, mineralogy and beneficiation of platinum group element (PGE) deposits around the world. A number of new discoveries were presented, alongside much new information on existing resources.

 
Book Review:

Asymmetric catalysis is an area of organic chemistry that is especially important for pharmaceuticals synthesis, as biologically active compounds are often chiral molecules."Asymmetric Catalysis on Industrial Scale: Challenges, Approaches and Solutions", 2nd Edition, reviewed by Stewart Brown, provides the reader with a comprehensive examination of the industrially important aspects of this area. The pgms feature heavily throughout, with one or more of the metals being referred to in seventeen of the twenty-eight chapters.

 

Contact
The Editor, Platinum Metals Review, Johnson Matthey PLC, Orchard Road, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 5HE, United Kingdom; Fax +44 (0) 1763 256359; Email jmpmr@matthey.com

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