Enrique Iglesia

Michel Boudart Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering

FRNY 2164
Purdue University
Davidson School of Chemical Engineering
Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering
480 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2100
(765) 494-0805 (fax)
Joined Purdue in October 2023
Education
1979-1982, PhD Stanford University Chemical Engineering
1977-1979, M.S. Stanford University Chemical Engineering
1973-1977, B.S. (Summa cum Laude) Princeton University Chemical Engineering

Research Interests

Our research group addresses the design, synthesis, and structural/mechanistic characterization of inorganic solids useful as catalysts for chemical reactions relevant to producing, converting, and using energy carriers, to sustainable petrochemical syntheses, and to the protection of the environment. Our approach exploits novel synthetic protocols to assemble active nanostructures and single-site catalysts within porous structures and spectroscopic and titration methods to probe their atomic connectivity and electronic properties. We assess their mechanism of function through kinetic and isotopic methods of analysis, in situ spectroscopy, and density functional theory to determine the identity and kinetic relevance of elementary steps at conditions of catalysis practice. The relevance of these fundamental inquiries is evident from many patents, some of which provide enabling features in the practice of alkane CO2 valorization, zeolite-mediated organic reactions, and syntheses of chemicals with smaller environmental footprints, as well as in efficient transformations of biogenic sources of carbon into chemicals and energy carriers.

Research Group

Visiting Scholars and Postdoctoral Associates

Graduate Students

  • Christian Borrero Villabol
  • Bonn Cao
  • Ryoh-Suke Sekiya

Former Lab Members

Awards and Honors

  • 2023 Faraday Lectureship Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry
  • 2022 Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry
  • 2021 Member, Real Academia de Ciencias (Spain)
  • 2021 NACS Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Catalysis
  • 2020 E. V. Murphree Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, American Chemical Society
  • 2019 Michel Boudart Award, North American Catalysis Society/European Federation of Catalysis Societies
  • 2018 Neil Armstrong Visiting Fellow, Purdue University (2018-2021)
  • 2018 William H. Walker Institute Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 2018 Doctor Honoris Causa, Technische Universität München
  • 2017 President, North American Catalysis Society (2009-2017)
  • 2016 National Academy of Inventors
  • 2016 Vice President, President, International Association of Catalysis Societies (2016-2024)
  • 2015 American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2014 Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 2013 Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
  • 2013 Honorary Fellow, Chinese Chemical Society
  • 2012 ENI Prize, New Frontiers in Hydrocarbons
  • 2012 Gabor Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis, American Chemical Society
  • 2011 Francois Gault Lectureship Award, European Federation of Catalysis Societies
  • 2011 Alpha Chi Sigma Institute Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 2011 Cross Canada Lecturer, Chemical Institute of Canada
  • 2010 Fellow, American Chemical Society
  • 2010 Best Teacher Award, Department of Chemical Engineering
  • 2010 Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Catalysis (1997-2010)
  • 2009 Tanabe Prize in Acid-Base Catalysis
  • 2008 National Academy of Engineering
  • 2007 Humboldt Senior Scientist Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
  • 2007 Doctor Honoris Causa, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia
  • 2006 Robert Burwell Award, North American Catalysis Society
  • 2005 Donald Sterling Noyce Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of California
  • 2005 George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon Chemistry, American Chemical Society
  • 2005 Honorary Professor, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
  • 2004 V.N. Ipatieff Professor, Northwestern University (2004-2005)
  • 2004 Wilhelm Manchot Chemistry Professorship, Technische Universität München
  • 2004 Award for Excellence in Natural Gas Conversion
  • 2003 Richard H. Wilhelm Award in Chemical Reaction Engineering, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 1998 Best Teacher Award, Berkeley AIChE Chapter
  • 1997 Paul H. Emmett Award in Fundamental Catalysis, North American Catalysis Society
  • 1996 Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Selected Publications

    1. Hwang, A. Wu, J., Getsoian, A.B., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Physical Chemistry C 127 (2023) 2923 (Kinetic Relevance of Surface Reactions and Lattice Diffusion in the Dynamics of Ce–Zr Oxides Reduction–Oxidation Cycles) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c08117
    2. Jaegers, N. R. and Iglesia, E., Journal of the American Chemical Society 145 (2023) 5989. (Theoretical Assessment of the Mechanism and Active Sites in Alkene Dimerization on Ni Monomers Grafted onto Aluminosilicates: (Ni-OH)+ Centers and C-C Coupling Mediated by Lewis Acid-Base Pairs) DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c13487
    3. Fischer, A. and Iglesia, E., Journal of Catalysis 420 (2023) 68 (The Nature of Hydrogen Spillover: Site Proximity Effects and Gaseous Intermediates in Hydrogenation Reactions Mediated by Inhibitor-Scavenging Mechanisms) doi: 10.1016/j.jcat.2022.11.013.
    4. Otto, T., Zhou, X., Zones, S.I., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Catalysis 410 (2022) 206 (Synthesis, Characterization, and Function of Au Nanoparticles Encapsulated within TS-1 Zeotype Frameworks as Catalysts for Propene Epoxidation with O2/H2O Reactants) doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2022.04.002
    5. Hibbitts, D. and Iglesia E., Journal of Catalysis 405 (2022) 614 (The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis: Some enduring mechanistic conundrums revisited) doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2021.10.033
    6. Mansour, H. and Iglesia, E., Journal of the American Chemical Society 143 (2021) 11582 (Mechanistic Connections between CO2 and CO Hydrogenation on Dispersed Ruthenium Nanoparticles) doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c04298
    7. Leung, S. L., Wei, J., Holstein, W. L., Avalos-Borja, M., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Physical Chemistry C 124 (2020) 20143 (Dynamics and Mechanism of Carbon Filament Formation during Methane Reforming on Supported Nickel Clusters). doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c05590.
    8. Deshlahra, P., and Iglesia, E., Chem. Comm. (Feature Article) 56 (2020) 7371 (Reactivity Descriptors in Acid Catalysis: Acid Strength, Proton Affinity and Host-Guest Interactions) doi.org/10.1039/d0cc02593c.
    9. Aguirrezabal, I., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Catalysis 389 (2020) 690 (Mechanistic Insights and Consequences of an Intrapore Liquid Phase in Ethane, Propene, and Butane Dimerization on Ni(II) Cations Grafted Within Ordered Aluminosilicate Mesopores) doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2020.06.038
    10. Kwon, S., Deshlahra, P., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Catalysis, 377 (2019) 692 (Reactivity and Selectivity Descriptors of Dioxygen Activation Routes on Metal Oxides) doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2019.07.048
    11. Noh, G., Zones, S.I., and Iglesia, E., Journal of Catalysis, 377 (2019) 255 (Isomer Sieving and the Prevalence of Terminal Methyl Branches in Reactions of Linear Alkanes Within Small Voids Containing Acid Sites) doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2019.07.022