Homogeneous Catalysis and Reaction Design
Bill Morandi has accepted the call to ETH Zurich, where he took over the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Department of the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (D-CHAB) in July 2018. Information about his current research can be found here. This website documents the activities of the group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (until 2018).
The “homogeneous catalysis and reaction design” group has a fundamental interest in developing innovative synthetic methodologies for applications across the molecular sciences, with a particular interest in establishing new concepts in catalysis. An interdisciplinary approach drawing from the areas of organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, medicinal chemistry and inorganic chemistry will be used to rationally design innovative catalytic solutions to major synthetic challenges.
Dr. Bill Morandi
- since July 2014
- Founder and leader (W2/Associate Professor without tenure) of the “homogeneous catalysis and reaction design” group, an independent Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung
- 2012-2014
- Postdoctoral Studies (supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation) in organometallic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Prof. Grubbs)
- 2008-2012
- Doctoral Studies (supported by the Stipendienfonds der Schweizerischen Chemischen Industrie (SSCI)) in organic chemistry at the ETH Zurich (Prof. Carreira)
- 2008
- MSc in Biological Chemistry from the ETH Zurich supported by an Oskar-Jeger Scholarship. Master Thesis under the supervision of Prof. Carreira
- 2006
- BSc in Biology from the ETH Zurich
- 1983
- born in Fribourg, Switzerland
- 2018
- Academyprize for Chemistry, Academy of Sciences, Göttingen
- 2017
- Novartis Early Career Award in Organic Chemistry
- 2017
- ERC Starting Grant
- 2017
- ADUC Prize from the German Chemical Society
- 2016
- Ružička Prize from the ETH Zürich
- 2016
- Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award
- 2016
- MS_CEC Young Researcher Award
- 2016
- Chemical & Engineering News´ Talented 12
- 2016
- European Young Chemist Award Special Mention
- 2016
- JSP Fellowship (Bürgenstock Conference)
- 2015
- Thieme Journal Award
- 2014
- Award by the Max Planck Society of a centrally-funded Max Planck Research Group Leader position
- 2013
- ETH Medal (Awarded for an outstanding Ph.D. Thesis)
- 2013
- Selected for participation to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2013 (sponsored by ETHZ/Swiss Re)
- 2013
- Reaxys PhD Prize Finalist
- 2013
- Advanced Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship der Swiss National Science Foundation
- 2012
- DSM Science and Technology Award Southern Europe, 2nd rank
- 2012
- Fellowship for prospective researchers from the Swiss National Science Foundation
- 2011
- Swiss Chemical Society Travel Award
- 2008
- Stipendienfonds der Schweizerischen Chemischen Industrie Scholarship
- 2006
- Oskar-Jeger Scholarship from the ETH Zürich
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25/09/2017 German-Spanish Symposium, ICIQ, Tarragona
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”07/06/2017 UniCat Cluster (TU Berlin), Berlin
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”09/05/2017 Boehringer Ingelheim, Ingelheim
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”11/04/2017 University of Zürich, Switzerland
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”19/03/2017 9th Workshop on Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry, Karlsruhe “Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”
13/01/2017 RWTH Aachen University, Aachen
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”05/12/2016 Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”30/11/2016 (Ružička Prize Ceremony)
ETH Zürich, Switzerland “Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”07/11/2016 Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”01/11/2016 EPFL, Lausanne
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”13/09/2016 Keynote Lecture
EuCheMS Conference, Sevilla “Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”22/08/2016 Chemical & Engineering News’ Talented 12 symposium, ACS Meeting Philadelphia “Catalytic Reaction Design”
21/06/2016 Göttinger-Chemie-Forum, Göttingen
“Catalysis for Introducing, Removing and Shuttling Functional Groups”23/05/2016 Universität Siegen, Siegen
“Design of Selective and Practical Catalytic Reactions for the Molecular Sciences”02/05/2016 Invited Short Talk
51st EUCHEM Conference on Stereochemistry (Bürgenstock), Brunnen “Catalytic Reversible Alkene-Nitrile Interconversion through Controllable Transfer Hydrocyanation”22/04/2016 Award Lecture
Münster Symposium on Cooperative Effects in Chemistry, Münster
“Catalytic Reversible Alkene-Nitrile Interconversion through Controllable Transfer Hydrocyanation”22/03/2016 Chemiedozententagung 2016, Heidelberg
“Catalytic Reversible Alkene-Nitrile Interconversion through Controllable Transfer Hydrocyanation”04/12/2015 Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Institute Seminar
“Design of Selective and Practical Catalytic Reactions for the Molecular Sciences”16/10/2015 Technische Universität München, Germany
“Design of Selective and Practical Catalytic Reactions for the Molecular Sciences”01/07/2014 Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”03/02/2014 The Ohio State University, Colombus, OH, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
31/01/2014 Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
28/01/2014 Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
21/01/2014 Max Planck Research Group Selection Symposium, Munich, Germany
“Homogeneous Catalysis: An Enabling Technology across the Molecular Sciences”
15/01/2014 University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
13/01/2014 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
16/12/2013 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
05/12/2013 Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
20/11/2013 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Alkenes”
31/10/2013 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Internal Alkenes”
18/06/2013 University of Geneva, Switzerland
“New Solutions to Old Challenges: Safe Catalytic Diazo Chemistry and Selective Wacker-Type Oxidation of Internal Alkenes”
18/06/2012 DSM Science and Technology Award Southern Europe, Interlaken
“Extreme Catalysis”
07/10/2010 Givaudan AG (Dübendorf, Switzerland)
“Carbene-Chemistry under Aqueous Oxidative Conditions with in situ Generated Trifluoromethyl Diazomethane”
22/10/2009 Johnson and Johnson (Cilag AG, Schaffhausen, Switzerland)
“The Triangle Revisited: New Perspectives in Cyclopropane and Cyclopropene Chemistry”
Research Topics
- Shuttle Catalysis
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Shuttle Catalysis
Catalytic reversible reactions, such as alkene metathesis and transfer hydrogenation, have had an auspicious impact on the molecular sciences. We are currently developing “shuttle catalysis” reactions that parallel the mechanism of transfer hydrogenation through the reversible transfer of chemical moieties beyond hydrogen, to address synthetically relevant challenges in catalysis and provide new disconnections for synthetic chemists.
- Aliphatic C-O Bond Activation
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Aliphatic C-O Bond Activation
The alcohol group is one the most widespread functional groups in organic synthesis. Additionally, alcohols are ubiquitous in renewable feedstocks, such as carbohydrate derivatives. Therefore, methods for the transformation and functionalization of alcohols are in high demand in synthesis. The research area “aliphatic C–O bond activation” targets the development of novel transformations employing alcohol derivatives as starting materials, with a particular emphasis on the selective functionalization of polyol derivatives.
- Direct Catalytic Synthesis of Unprotected Amines
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Direct Catalytic Synthesis of Unprotected Amines
The formation of C–N bonds is one of the major challenges in the preparation of bioactive molecules. The direct catalytic amination of hydrocarbons is an attractive approach to address this challenge and has been the subject of intense research efforts. However, most of the methods developed thus far lead to the installation of a protected form of the versatile primary amine group, requiring additional and often challenging protecting group manipulations. In contrast, the research program “Direct Catalytic Synthesis of Unprotected Amines” circumvents the protecting group limitation by enabling a direct access to the desired primary amine. Besides its synthetic potential, this project also addresses a fundamental challenge in catalysis, namely the synthesis of unprotected functionalized molecules that are prone to deactivating coordination of metal catalysts.
