Special Inorganic Chemistry Seminar with Professor Swadhin Mandal (IISER Kolkata)

Empowering p-electrons in catalysis

Department of Chemical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal-741246, India

Abstract: Our research is primarily focused on developing concepts for metal-free catalytic processes that utilise p-electrons. Traditional catalytic processes heavily rely on d-electrons from rare, expensive, and often toxic transition metals. In contrast, our approach aims to harness p-electrons for various important organic transformations. In this direction, we are exploring various low-valent organo-main group species for their effectiveness in catalytic CO₂ reduction and functionalization, enabling the production of valuable products without the use of transition metal-based catalysts. In this talk, I will emphasise our recent developments in organometallic-free cross-coupling of aryl halides and low-valent phosphorus(I) chemistry, which can enable the P(I)/P(III) redox cycle for catalytic transformations.

 

Bio: Swadhin Mandal is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Kolkata. Earlier, he was head of the Department of Chemical Sciences at IISER Kolkata. He earned his BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Kalyani. In 2002, he received his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, under the supervision of Prof. S. S. Krishnamurthy. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Robert C. Haddon at the University of California, Riverside, USA and as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow with Prof. Herbert W. Roesky at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He joined IISER Kolkata as an assistant professor in 2007 and was promoted to full professor in 2018. His current research interests include metal-free catalysis with reactive electron-rich main group species to discover new chemical transformations of CO2 and electron-transfer catalysis with small molecules in various organic transformations. His research has been published in several high-profile international journals (~150 publications and patents), including Nature, Nature Catalysis, JACS, Angew Chem and others. To date, he has guided 19 students to their PhD degrees.

 

Website: http://swadhinmandal.com/