The Department of Chemistry is organising a Department Guest Lecture by Dr Soumyadeep Chakrabortty, Max-Planck-Institute für Kohlenforschung (The Max Planck Institute for Coal Research), Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany on December 10, 2025. Dr Chakrabortty will deliver the talk on “Powering Homogeneous (Asymmetric) Catalysis with Earth-Abundant Metals”.
Abstract of the Talk
Transition metal catalyzed hydro-functionalization of alkenes and alkynes remains a cornerstone of homogeneous catalysis offering excellent economy for the synthesis of functionalized molecules. While precious-metal catalysts based on Rh, Ru, and Ir have long dominated this field, concerns regarding cost, scarcity, and residual-metal toxicity have intensified efforts toward more sustainable alternatives. This presentation will showcase sustainable base-metal catalysis for stereoselective synthesis. A cobalt catalyst enables enantioselective hydrogenation of cyclic enamides via distinct mechanistic pathways [1-3], while an iron complex [4], promotes highly selective trans-hydrostannation of terminal alkynes through a modified Chalk–Harrod mechanism. Together these studies highlight the potential of earth-abundant metals in homogeneous catalysis.
About the Speaker
Dr Soumyadeep Chakrabortty received M.S. in chemistry at IISER Mohali, India in 2019 on NHC chemistry and catalysis. He obtained his PhD at Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) Rostock, Germany and stayed as research associate at LIKAT. Currently, he is pursuing his post-doctoral research at Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (MPI-Kofo) at Mülheim a/d Ruhr. He was also awarded the DAAD Scholarship to visit Van’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Science (HIMS), University of Amsterdam (UvA) during PhD studies. His research focuses on design and application of novel ligands in transition metal catalysis for organic synthesis.