Piet van Leeuwen, Institut national des sciences appliquées (INSA) Toulouse, France, has been awarded the Alwin Mittasch Prize 2019 from DECHEMA e.V. (Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) and the German Society for Catalysis (GeCatS). The prize is supported by BASF SE.
The prize recognizes outstanding research that has led to a deeper understanding or widening of fundamentals in catalysis and its industrial applications. The award is endowed with 10,000 EUR and was presented at EuropaCat 2019 in Aachen, Germany, on August 23, 2019.
Piet van Leeuwen ‘s work focuses on homogeneous catalysis. His research interests include supramolecular and nanostructured catalysts. He has made important contributions to the molecular understanding of ligand effects in metal-catalyzed reactions, which have led to several industrial applications. He was one of the major contributors to the bite-angle concept. The bite-angle has an important influence on the rate and the selectivity of catalytic reactions and is, thus, a key to the optimization of catalytic reactions.
Piet van Leeuwen studied chemistry at Leiden University, The Netherlands, where he received his Ph.D. in 1967. He joined Shell in 1968 and subsequently worked for the company in several functions in the Netherlands and the USA. In 1989, joined the University of Amsterdam. From 2004 to 2015, he was Group Leader at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona, Spain, before taking over his current position as Chaire d´Attractivité at INSA.
Among other honors, van Leeuwen has received the Holleman Award from the Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences in 2005, a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant in 2009, and two honorary doctorates.
Selected Publications
- Halogen bonding effects on the outcome of reactions at metal centres,
Lucas Carreras, Jordi Benet-Buchholz, Antonio Franconetti, Antonio Frontera, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen, Anton Vidal-Ferran,
Chem. Commun. 2019, 55, 2380–2383.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cc08884e - Petrochemical residue-derived silica-supported titania-magnesium catalysts for the photocatalytic degradation of imidazolium ionic liquids in water,
William Leonardo da Silva, Bárbara Caroline Leal, Ana Luiza Ziulkoski, Piet W.N.M. van Leeuwen, João Henrique Zimnoch dos Santos, Henri Stephan Schrekker,
Sep. Purif. Technol. 2019, 218, 191–199.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2019.01.066 - How Do Secondary Phosphine Oxides Interact with Silver Nanoclusters? Insights from Computation,
Felipe S. S. Schneider, Maximiliano Segala, Giovanni F. Caramori, Eder Henrique da Silva, Renato L. T. Parreira, Henri S. Schrekker, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen,
J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 21449–21461.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b06244 - Soluble Platinum Nanoparticles Ligated by Long-Chain N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as Catalysts,
Luis M. Martínez-Prieto, Lena Rakers, Angela M. López-Vinasco, Israel Cano, Yannick Coppel, Karine Philippot, Frank Glorius, Bruno Chaudret, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen,
Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 12779–12786.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201702288 - Iridium versus Iridium: Nanocluster and Monometallic Catalysts Carrying the Same Ligand Behave Differently,
Israel Cano, Luis M. Martínez-Prieto, Bruno Chaudret, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen,
Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 1444–1450.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201605352 - Supramolecular catalysis. Part 2: artificial enzyme mimics,
Matthieu Raynal, Pablo Ballester, Anton Vidal-Ferran, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen,
Chem. Soc. Rev. 2014, 43, 1734–1787.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cs60037h - Selective Pd-Catalyzed Oxidative Coupling of Anilides with Olefins through C−H Bond Activation at Room Temperature,
Maarten D. K. Boele, Gino P. F. van Strijdonck, André H. M. de Vries, Paul C. J. Kamer, Johannes G. de Vries, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 1586–1587.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ja0176907 - Wide Bite Angle Diphosphines: Xantphos Ligands in Transition Metal Complexes and Catalysis,
Paul C. J. Kamer, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen, Joost N. H. Reek,
Acc. Chem. Res. 2001, 34, 895–904.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ar000060+
Also of Interest
- Alwin Mittasch Prize 2017,
ChemViews Mag. 2017.
David Cole-Hamilton, UK, and Xinhe Bao, China, honored for contributions to catalysis - Schlögl Awarded,
ChemViews Mag. 2015.
Professor Robert Schlögl, Berlin, Germany, was awarded the BASF-DECHEMA Alwin Mittasch Prize 2015
