Martin Albrecht (chemist)

Martin Albrecht (born December 12, 1971) is a Swiss chemist. He is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Bern. He is known for his contribution to carbene chemistry, particularly with his work on 1,2,3-triazolylidene mesoionic carbene.[1][2][3]

Martin Albrecht
Prof. Dr. Martin Albrecht
Born (1971-12-12) December 12, 1971 (age 52)
NationalitySwiss
Alma materBern University (MA)
Utrecht University (PhD, Summa Cum Laude)
Scientific career
FieldsOrganometallic Chemistry
InstitutionsBern University
University College Dublin
Fribourg University
Yale University
Utrecht University
Thesis Sensors, Switches, and Catalysts: New applications of Organometallic Materials  (2000)
Doctoral advisorProf. Dr. Gerard van Koten, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Websitealbrechtresearch.com

Education

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Martin Albrecht completed his undergraduate education at the University of Bern from 1991 to 1996. His early research career started in 1996 during his PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gerard van Koten at Utrecht University, in The Netherlands. He studied the formation and properties of novel inorganic materials using the privileged pincer ligand platform which led, for example, to discoveries such as organoplatinium complexes that appeared applicable as very sensitive SO2 sensors.[4] In 2001, Martin Albrecht was awarded the Backer price from the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV) in recognition of his PhD thesis work.[5]

 
The first triazolylidene iridium complex reported by Martin Albrecht et al. in J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 13534–13535.

Career and Research

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After his PhD, he joined, in 2001 Prof. Dr. Robert H. Crabtree's research team at Yale, USA, to develop the coordination chemistry of N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands with various metals and to study their application as catalysts in C–H activation reactions.[6][7]

This period was followed by a short stay, 2002–2003, as researcher R&D Coating Effects, in Ciba Specialty Chemicals (Basel, CH). Then, Martin Albrecht accepted a position as Alfred Werner assistant professorship in Fribourg, Switzerland working on NHC coordination chemistry,[8] on the edge with biology.[9] For this research, he was granted a European Research Council starting grant in 2005 for the CARBENZYMES project that aimed to understand the bonding properties of metalloenzymes.[10]

In 2009, he joined the University College Dublin as a full Professor. He developed a productive research program using novel 1,2,3-triazolylidene mesoionic carbene ligands.[11] At that time, he received a European Research Council Consolidator Grant in 2014 for the synMICs project that aimed at the exploration of sustainable pathways for the efficient production of pharmaceutical drugs and for energy storage with 3d metals.[12]

In 2015, he moved with his research group back to Bern, Switzerland to continue his research on donor flexible ligands as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry.[13][14][15] Since 2021, he has been deputy director of the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern.[16] In 2021, the 1st year Biology Bachelor students recognized his commitment to teach young undergraduate students, to inspire them and to act as a scientific role model by nominating him for the "Teacher of the year 2021" award.[17]

Major grants and Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Albrecht, Martin; van Koten, Gerard (2001-10-15). "Platinum Group Organometallics Based on "Pincer" Complexes: Sensors, Switches, and Catalysts In memory of Prof. Dr. Luigi M. Venanzi and his pioneering work in organometallic chemistry, particularly in PCP pincer chemistry". Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 40 (20): 3750–3781. doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20011015)40:20<3750::AID-ANIE3750>3.0.CO;2-6. ISSN 1521-3773. PMID 11668533.
  2. ^ Schuster, Oliver; Yang, Liangru; Raubenheimer, Helgard G.; Albrecht, Martin (2009-08-12). "Beyond Conventional N -Heterocyclic Carbenes: Abnormal, Remote, and Other Classes of NHC Ligands with Reduced Heteroatom Stabilization". Chemical Reviews. 109 (8): 3445–3478. doi:10.1021/cr8005087. ISSN 0009-2665. PMID 19331408.
  3. ^ Mathew, Paulson; Neels, Antonia; Albrecht, Martin (2008-10-15). "1,2,3-Triazolylidenes as Versatile Abnormal Carbene Ligands for Late Transition Metals". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130 (41): 13534–13535. doi:10.1021/ja805781s. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 18785741.
  4. ^ Albrecht, Martin; Lutz, Martin; Spek, Anthony L.; van Koten, Gerard (2000). "Organoplatinum crystals for gas-triggered switches". Nature. 406 (6799): 970–974. doi:10.1038/35023107. hdl:1874/6380. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 10984046. S2CID 4421114.
  5. ^ "Winnaars - SOC". KNCV - Royal Netherlands Chemical Society. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  6. ^ Albrecht, Martin; Miecznikowski, John R.; Samuel, Amanda; Faller, Jack W.; Crabtree, Robert H. (2002-08-19). "Chelated Iridium(III) Bis-carbene Complexes as Air-Stable Catalysts for Transfer Hydrogenation". Organometallics. 21 (17): 3596–3604. doi:10.1021/om020338x. ISSN 0276-7333.
  7. ^ Gründemann, Stephan; Kovacevic, Anes; Albrecht, Martin; Faller, Jack W.; Crabtree, Robert H. (2002-09-01). "Abnormal Ligand Binding and Reversible Ring Hydrogenation in the Reaction of Imidazolium Salts with IrH 5 (PPh 3 ) 2". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 124 (35): 10473–10481. doi:10.1021/ja026735g. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 12197749.
  8. ^ Heckenroth, Marion; Kluser, Evelyne; Neels, Antonia; Albrecht, Martin (2007-08-20). "Neutral Ligands with Exceptional Donor Ability for Palladium-Catalyzed Alkene Hydrogenation". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 46 (33): 6293–6296. doi:10.1002/anie.200702199. PMID 17631661.
  9. ^ Albrecht, Martin (2009-10-23). "Carbenes in Action". Science. 326 (5952): 532–533. Bibcode:2009Sci...326..532A. doi:10.1126/science.1181553. hdl:10197/6755. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 19900887. S2CID 44698803.
  10. ^ "Conseil européen de la recherche : Deux millions pour un chimiste fribourgeois !". Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  11. ^ Mathew, Paulson; Neels, Antonia; Albrecht, Martin (2008-10-15). "1,2,3-Triazolylidenes as Versatile Abnormal Carbene Ligands for Late Transition Metals". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130 (41): 13534–13535. doi:10.1021/ja805781s. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 18785741.
  12. ^ "Exploiting Synergistic Properties of Mesoionic Carbene Complexes: Teaching Rusty Metals Challenging Catalysis". Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS). Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  13. ^ Salzmann, Kevin; Segarra, Candela; Albrecht, Martin (2020-06-02). "Donor‐Flexible Bis(pyridylidene amide) Ligands for Highly Efficient Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Olefin Oxidation". Angewandte Chemie. 132 (23): 9017–9021. doi:10.1002/ange.202002014. ISSN 0044-8249. S2CID 211525376.
  14. ^ Bertini, Simone; Rahaman, Motiar; Dutta, Abhijit; Schollhammer, Philippe; Rudnev, Alexander V.; Gloaguen, Fredric; Broekmann, Peter; Albrecht, Martin (2021). "Oxo-functionalised mesoionic NHC nickel complexes for selective electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 to formate". Green Chemistry. 23 (9): 3365–3373. doi:10.1039/D1GC00388G. ISSN 1463-9262. PMC 8111538. PMID 34093085.
  15. ^ Planchestainer, Matteo; Segaud, Nathalie; Shanmugam, Muralidharan; McMaster, Jonathan; Paradisi, Francesca; Albrecht, Martin (2018-08-13). "Carbene in Cupredoxin Protein Scaffolds: Replacement of a Histidine Ligand in the Active Site Substantially Alters Copper Redox Properties". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 57 (33): 10677–10682. doi:10.1002/anie.201807168. ISSN 1433-7851. PMID 29949236. S2CID 49426574.
  16. ^ "Prof. Dr. Martin Albrecht". Departement für Chemie, Biochemie und Pharmazie (in German). 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  17. ^ Martin Albrecht [@albrecht_lab] (2021-12-20). "It is rare that thorny gifts have a positive effect, but this one means a lot to me — thanks to FS Biologie @unibern for the nomination! Great motivation to keep trying to enthuse first year students about the magics of chemistry!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.