In 2007, TSRI president Richard Lerner hired internationally renowned chemist Roy A. Periana to lead what would become the Scripps Energy & Materials Center.

[5][6] He has also developed chemistry that oxidatively couples methane to acetic acid in a one pot reaction using a palladium catalyst, earning multiple awards.

Hydrocarbons (e.g. natural gas), nitrogen, oxygen, and water are utilized as the core components for the majority of the world's energy and materials.

Therefore, new ways to reduce excessive emissions and conserve precious natural resources will be required to sustain the growing pressures on the Earth to supplement humanity's consumption-based lifestyle.

There are currently no catalysts that can efficiently convert natural gas, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, or water at lower temperatures to useful materials or extract the energy stored in the bonds of these molecules.

This result could lead to a new class of molecular reagents for the selective conversion of alkanes to liquid products having impacts on the transportation fuels and petrochemical industries.