Prof. Milstein über seine Vorlesung:

„The design of ”green” synthetic methodology and new approaches to sustainable energy are major goals of modern catalysis. We have developed a new approach to bond activation by metal complexes, involving metal-ligand cooperation of pincer-type complexes, and have discovered several environmentally benign catalytic reactions, including (a) ruthenium-catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols to form esters and H2 (b) hydrogenation of esters to alcohols under mild conditions (c) coupling of amines with alcohols to form amides with liberation of H2 (d) selective synthesis of primary amines directly from alcohols and ammonia (e) direct formation of acetals by dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols (f) generation of imines and hydrogen by coupling of alcohols with amines (g) dehydrogenative amidation of esters (h) dehydrogenative acylation of alcohols with esters (i) hydrogenation of amides to amines and alcohols (j) mild iron-catalyzed hydrogenation of ketones to alcohols (k) iron catalyzed CO2 hydrogenation to formate salts (l) hydrogenation of CO2-derived organic carbonates, carbamates, ureas and formates as alternative routes for the conversion of CO2 to methanol (m) catalytic transformation of alcohols to carboxylic acid salts using water as the terminal oxidant.
These reactions are efficient, proceed under neutral conditions and produce no waste. Mechanistically, these reactions involve aromatization – dearomatization of the hetero-aromatic pincer-ligand core. Metal-ligand cooperation of this type has led also to a distinct stepwise approach towards water splitting, based on consecutive thermal H2 generation and light-induced O2 liberation, using no sacrificial oxidants or reductants, and involving a new O-O bond-forming step.”

Die Schering Stiftung fördert die Vorlesung, um die internationale Vernetzung von Wissenschaftlern zu stärken und renommierte Fachexperten als Vorbilder für den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs sichtbar zu machen. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht die Vorlesung einer breiten interessierten Öffentlichkeit die Teilhabe an neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen.

Im Anschluss an die Vorlesung wird der Schering Preis für hervorragende Dissertationen im Fach Chemie verliehen. Der Preis wird von der Schering Stiftung mit 5.000 € finanziert.