Patricia Lara Muñoz

Group: Organometallic Synthesis and Catalytic Applications

Position: US Tenured Professor

Contact

Tel. ext: 446247

Office: D 210

Email:

ORCID: 0000-0002-3826-7769

🌐OSACA

Biography

Patricia Lara obtained her BSc (2004) and PhD (2009) in Chemistry from the University of Seville. Her research experience spans various fields, including Organometallic Chemistry, Solid State Chemistry, and Catalysis. During her doctoral studies, she investigated the reactivity of an iridium complex stabilized by the hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate ligand (TpMe₂) with different organic molecules. She completed a predoctoral research stay at the University of Illinois under the supervision of Prof. John Hartwig. Upon earning her PhD, she pursued postdoctoral research in the group of Dr. Bruno Chaudret and Dr. Karine Philippot at the Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination du CNRS in Toulouse, France. In 2014, she was awarded a Juan de la Cierva contract at the University of Seville to develop a project focused on the synthesis of platinum nanoparticles and the study of their catalytic applications. Appointed Associate Professor in 2017, she has held the position of Professor in the same department since 2021.

Research interests

Her research focuses on the design and synthesis of metallic nanoparticles, based on both noble and first-row transition metals, primarily stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbene ligands. This line of work encompasses their structural characterization as well as the study of their catalytic applications in various processes of interest. Among these, notable examples include hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions aimed at hydrogen synthesis and storage, as well as hydrogen/deuterium isotopic exchange processes.

Selected publications

• Selective H/D exchange in E-H (E = Si, Ge, Sn) bonds catalyzed by 1,2,3-triazolylidene-stabilized nickel nanoparticles. P. Molinillo, A. Gálvez del Portigo, M. Puyo, F. Vattier, A. M. Beltrán, N. Rendón, P. Lara, A. Suárez. Inorganic Chemistry 2025, 64, 8125−8134. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5c00216
• N-Heterocyclic Carbene Modified Metal Nanocatalysts. P. Lara, A. Suárez, in L. M. Martínez-Prieto (Eds) Surface Functionalized Metal Catalysts, Topics in Organometallic Chemistry vol 75; Springer Cham. 2024, 133–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/3418_2024_119
• Ruthenium nanoparticles stabilized by 1,2,3-triazolylidene ligands in the hydrogen isotope exchange of E-H bonds (E = B, Si, Ge, Sn) using deuterium gas. P. Molinilllo, M. Puyo, F. Vattier, B. Lacroix, N. Rendón, P. Lara, A. Suárez. Nanoscale 2023, 15, 14488. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3nr02637j
• Reduction of N2O with Hydrosilanes Catalysed by RuSNS Nanoparticles. P. Molinillo, B. Lacroix, F. Vattier, N. Rendón, A. Suárez, P. Lara. Chemical Communications 2022, 58, 7176-7179. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cc01470j
• Platinum nanoparticles stabilized by N-heterocyclic thiones. Synthesis and catalytic activity in mono- and di-hydroboration of alkynes. L. C. Moraes, R. C. Figueiredo, J. P. Espinós, F. Vattier, A. Franconetti, C. Jaime, B. Lacroix, J. Rojo, P. Lara, S. Conejero, Nanoscale 2020, 12, 6821-6831. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0NR00251H