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Goutam Narayan Tumulu

Prime Minister Research Fellow at IIT Bombay
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©Goutam Narayan

About Me

I work on characterization and performance evaluation of Solid-acid catalysts to understand structure-activity correlations for design of optimal catalysts.

Research Interests

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By Myasein at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Ronhjones., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17420804

The acid strength of the catalyst must correspond precisely with the basic strength of the reactant for maximum conversion and selectivity. Many reactions require strong acid sites to proceed. This has made Tungsten Oxides and Heteropolyacids popular, since they possess superacidity (Acidity>100% H2SO4). We will be interested in tuning the acidity of Tungsten based acids by immobilising on various supports and conjugating with different metals. We intend to employ both theoretical(DFT) and physical experiments for the screening and validating optimum Metal-Acid-Support combinations for a reaction.
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Catalysts 2021, 11(10), 1171; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11101171

Solid acids are acids which can liberate H+ ions in the reaction medium without any significant change to their structure, preserving their heterogeneity. They can catalyse almost all reactions catalysed by liquid acids. The catalytic activity combined with heterogeneous nature makes solid acids a great choice for commercial applications. Metal nanoparticles can be supported on these solid acids to make them bifunctional and catalyse complex reactions which require hydrogenation/oxidation steps.Our lab group intends to search and optimise Metal-Solid Acid bifunctional catalysts for important reactions.
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Courses Taken

Cumulative CPI=8.84

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Publications

Abstract

The 31P NMR Chemical Shifts(δP) of Trimethylphosphine Oxide (TMPO) conjugated with ten common liquid molecular acids have been calculated employing the Density Functional Theory (DFT) based computational method. These shifts have been correlated with the intrinsic acid strength parameter, Deprotonation Energy (DPE), of the underlying acids and the complexation energy of TMPO (ΔΕ). The acids, anions, and conjugated complexes were modeled with PW91 functional and 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. The NMR calculations were performed on the relaxed structures as single-point calculations using the Gauge Including Atomic Orbital (GIAO) method at the MP2 level and TZVP basis set. Poor linearity was observed in the correlation of δP with respect to DPE (R2=0.867), while strong linearity was seen with the complexation energy ΔΕ (R2=0.967). We have hypothesized the unreliable modeling of anions and Non-Covalent Interactions (NCI) to be the factors affecting the linear trend of δP with respect to DPE. To support our hypothesis, we have presented Reduced Density Gradient (RDG) Maps and 31P NMR Tensor spatial orientation data of the Acid-TMPO conjugates.

Narayan Tumulu, G. et al. Role of Non-Covalent Interactions on Acid Strength Measurement of Liquid Acids using Phosphine Oxide NMR Probe. ChemistrySelect 9, e202304804 (2024).
https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202304804
Tumulu, G. N. et al. Effect of sulfonation density on acid strength in ion exchange resins: Insights from solid-state NMR and density functional theory. Molecular Catalysis 593, 115794 (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcat.2026.115794
Abstract

Ion-exchange (IE) resins are widely used as solid acid catalysts; however, their surface acidity remains poorly characterized because their limited thermal stability precludes conventional NH₃-based acidity measurements. Moreover, acid-site accessibility in IE resins is strongly governed by solvent- or reactant-induced swelling. Here, we investigate the surface acidity of commercial Amberlyst and Indion IE resins using ³¹P MAS NMR (Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), employing TMPO as a molecular probe dispersed on the resin with moderately swelling dichloromethane, thereby capturing the swollen-state acidity relevant for predicting catalytic activity. The deconvolution of the 31P MAS NMR spectra reveals three distinct acid-strength zones arising from inhomogeneous sulfonation of the polymer matrix. The overall acidity, quantified by the area-weighted average 31P chemical shift, increases monotonically with sulfonation density. Notably, only resins containing acid sites stronger than ∼80 ppm exhibited measurable catalytic activity in α-pinene isomerization, establishing a direct correlation between acidity and activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on representative resin models, supported by electron-density analyses, attribute the enhancement of acid strength at higher sulfonation densities to cooperative hydrogen-bonding networks among neighboring sulfonic acid groups. Together, these findings establish 31P MAS NMR–derived surface acidity as a catalytically relevant descriptor for the rational selection of IE resins in liquid phase acid-catalyzed chemistries.

Teaching Duties

Guest Faculty at TKIET Warananagar(Affl. to Shivaji University)

Course: Chemical Reaction Engineering I

Credits: 4

Total: 36 hrs

Guest Faculty at TKIET Warananagar(Affl. to Shivaji University)

Course: Transport Phenomenon

Credits: 4

Total: 48 hrs

PMRF TA at Science For Rural India Programme (SFRI)

Topic: First Law of Thermodynamics & Perpetual Machines

Total: 48 hrs

Guest Speaker at SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY

Topic: Nanotechnology:Fundamentals of Nanotechnology and its Legal Aspects

Total: 2 hrs

Guest Faculty at MIT World Peace University, Pune

Course: Research Methodology For Chemical Engineers

Total: 96 hrs

Guest Faculty at Thadomal Shahani Engineering College

Course: Chemical Reaction Engineering II

Total: 15 hrs

Guest Faculty at Thadomal Shahani Engineering College

Course: Energy Systems Design

Total: 5 hrs

Guest Faculty at Thadomal Shahani Engineering College

Course: Research Methodology

Total: 40 hrs

Guest Faculty at Thadomal Shahani Engineering College

Course: Heterogeneous Catalysis

Total: 10 hrs

Guest Faculty at Thadomal Shahani Engineering College

Course: Heat & Pressure Effects in Reactor Design

Total: 11 hrs

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Best Oral Presentation
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RSS 2025

© 2020 by Goutam Narayan Tumulu

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