Inside Cover, Volume 34, Issue 1

Conversion of biomass into useful aromatic chemicals in the aqueous phase requires an understanding of the fundamental catalytic chemistry of intermediate aromatic oxygenates on catalyst surfaces. As presented on page 60 by Jin Yang, Paul J. Dauenhauer, and Ashwin Ramasubramaniam, density functional theory calculations are used to elucidate the interaction between phloroglucinol and common hydrogenation catalysts, Pt and Pd. The importance of aqueous solvent effects on adsorption energies is quantified and shown to lead to an appreciable decrease in the binding between the molecule and the catalyst.