The control of chemical and biochemical processes is often derived from the use of catalysts, species that act to selectively increase the rate of chemical reactions. Without catalysts and enzymes, a wide range of important industrial chemical processes and biological transformations would be unfeasible. The action of catalysts may also serve to dramatically decrease the energy needed to perform certain chemical reactions, as well as to selectively breakdown environmental contaminants - thus playing an important role in developing sustainable approaches to social, economic, and industrial development. Many research groups at UBC are involved in understanding current catalytic systems, developing better approaches to existing catalytic processes, and even exploring completely new chemical transformations enabled by catalysis.
