Talk Title: Catalysis a key to Functional Polypyridines, Phosphines and Fused Heterocycles
Pierre H. Dixneuf, initially worked with Prof René Dabard on ferrocene chemistry for PhD and Dr es Science and with Prof. Michael F. Lappert on N-Heterocyclic Carbene(NHC)-Metal complexes. Professor of organometallic chemistry at the University of Rennes since 1978 he concentrated on Catalysis since 1985 on catalytic processes promoted first with ruthenium catalysts and then created a CNRS Rennes-Catalysis center.
He successively developed selective catalytic transformations of alkynes, incorporation of CO2, ruthenium-vinylidenes and -allenylidenes in catalysis, enantioselective hydrogenation with chiral Ru catalysts, new alkene metathesis catalysts from allenylidenes and their application in the transformation of plant oil derivatives and precursors of polyamides. He is now contributing since 2007 to C–H bond activation/functionalization using Ru(II) and Rh(I) catalysts especially
operating in water.
He has co-authored 480 publications and reviews, co-edited 7 books. He received international prizes : A. v Humboldt prize for Research 1990, Le Bel SCF award and Grignard-Wittig Prize (Germany) in 2000, Institut universitaire de France membership in 2000, académie des sciences IFP prize and Sacconi medal (Italy) in 2006, Chemical Society Awards from Spain and China in 2014, and Portugal in 2021. He was elected as a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2016, the Portugal academy of sciences in 2017, the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2020 and of Academia Europaea in 2022.
He is currently a Research Professor at the University of Rennes, France, where he founded the CNRS-UR1 research Institut de chimie de Rennes in 2000 and was university vice-president for research (2001-2004) after he was Deputy Director of CNRS Chemistry in Paris (1996-1999).