The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the chemical company Clariant will continue their successful partnership of ten years in the area of catalysis research. TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann and Clariant Catalysts Head of Research and Development Marvin Estenfelder signed a corresponding agreement in Munich extending the Munich Catalysis Alliance (MuniCat) until 2033. The partners will jointly develop even more efficient and more sustainable catalysts for the chemical industry.
This is a very important and exciting development for the Catalysis Research Center - being the hub for catalysis research at TUM - and we are looking forward to many successful joint projects with Clariant within the next ten years.
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TUM and Clariant renew Strategic Partnership on Catalysis Research
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CRC Associated Researcher Golo Storch wins ERC Starting Grant 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Golo Storch for winning one of the prestigous ERC Starting Grants 2023. Starting Grants are intended for scientists who are still in the early phases of their careers. The Grants are endowed with as much as 1.5 million euros.
Reduction reactions play a major role in many processes in the chemical industry. Here the transfer of electrons results in the transformation of a raw material into the desired product. In organic chemistry the high reduction potential necessary for this process is usually taken from metals such as sodium, potassium or lithium, which are difficult to produce. In the ERC project "Artificial Catalysts for Endergonic Reduction by Electron Bifurcation", BifurCAT, Dr. Golo Storch and his team are applying a trick found in nature to make this kind of reaction possible with less effort. They are following the example of enzymes where what is called electron bifurcation takes place. At a reaction center of the enzyme two electrons from a molecule are transferred to the catalyst. Then the central step takes place: The two electrons are spatially separated in the catalyst. Here some of the energy of one of the electrons is transferred to the other, so that instead of two electrons with the same energy level, one electron with a higher reduction potential and one with a lower reduction potential result. This higher reduction potential can then be used for the desired reduction. Should the team succeed in realizing this process in the laboratory for the first time, it would be possible to utilize substances such as ascorbic acid or formic acid, which exist in large quantities, as energy sources for demanding reduction reactions.
CRC PI Jennifer Strunk elected for the GDCh Board of Directors
Congratulations to our newest member of the CRC PI community, Jennifer Strunk, for being elected to the Board of Directors of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) with the second most votes in academia!