TOC Trends in Organic Chemistry

Trends in Organic Chemistry: Base metal catalysis

6 May 2019, Medicon Village (Building 303, same as restaurang Inspira), Lund

The term catalysis was first stated by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1835. Today catalysis is an important tool in research, but to a very large extent also in the chemical production for societal needs. Manufacturing of petrochemicals, polymers, base chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals and more would be impossible without catalysis. Many chemical reactions are catalyzed by compounds where noble metals like platinum, palladium, rhodium et cetera are responsible for the catalytic effect. These reactions are often very efficient and their usefulness were for example recognized by the Nobel prize in chemistry 2010 to Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki.

The noble metals are however both rare and expensive and the future demand is likely to increase. Furthermore, these metals are toxic which requires low residual levels in for example pharmaceuticals and food. An alternative strategy is to shift away from noble metals to cheaper and more abundant base metals (which are usually first row transition metals). Historically, the use of base metals as catalysts has trailed behind the enormous progress made by noble metal catalysts. Today there is an emerging interest in the challenge to match the high performance demonstrated by the platinum group metals. By investigating new reaction conditions and ligands it might be possible to improve the somewhat unpredictable properties of base metals. Thus, there has for example been enormous progress in the use of iron, cobalt and nickel catalysts to facilitate the formation of carbon-carbon bonds and carbon-hetero atom bonds. Overall, a plethora of base metal complexes can now be used as efficient catalysts for organic reactions.

The purpose of this TOC symposium is to give a picture of the ongoing progress in catalysis towards more sustainable solutions using base metal catalysis. The invited speakers have a strong scientific background in catalysis and will talk about their current research in the field.

The organizers hope that the thoughts and ideas around base metal catalysis presented in the symposium will be inspiring for all scientists interested in organic chemistry, catalysis and sustainability.

Fee and registration
The TOC is free of charge and lunch is included.
Registration, which is mandatory, was closed Monday 29 April at 12:00. A no show fee of 500 SEK will be charged.

Organizers
Ola Wendt, Lund University and Johan Wennerberg, Docera

The division of organic chemistry is a part of the Swedish Chemical Society, open to everyone interested in organic chemistry. The division arranges one day-symposia on relevant topics within organic chemistry under the name Trends in organic chemistry (TOC). The initiative to these gatherings is taken by scientists active at universities and industries in Sweden. Six or seven internationally recognized scientists in the field are invited to give key note lectures on their research.

Contact
Ulrika Örn at the Swedish Chemical Society ulrika.orn@kemisamfundet.se, +46 (0)8 502 541 81

Program
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