Helmut Schwarz, Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), Germany, celebrates his 75th birthday on August 6, 2018. Schwarz’ research is focused on chemistry in the gas phase and combines experimental and theoretical work. His interests include reactions of metal-cluster ions, metal-mediated oxidations, reactive transition-metal compounds, bond activation, and the development of mass spectrometry (MS) techniques.

Helmut Schwarz studied chemistry at TUB, Germany, and received his Ph.D. there in 1972. He completed his Habilitation in 1974 and was appointed Professor of Chemistry at TUB in 1978. Schwarz was President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation from 2008 to 2017.

Among many other honors, Professor Schwarz has received the Liebig Medal from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) in 1998, the Prelog Medal in Gold from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2000, the Blaise Pascal Medal in Chemistry from the European Academy of Sciences in 2011, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2012, the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC) Schrödinger Medal in 2015, the Karl Ziegler Prize by the Karl Ziegler Foundation and the GDCh in 2015, and numerous honorary doctorates.

Selected Publications

• On the Origin of the Distinctly Different Reactivity of Ruthenium in [MO]⁺/CH₄ Systems (M=Fe, Ru, Os),
  Xiaoyan Sun, Shaodong Zhou, Lei Yue, Maria Schlangen, Helmut Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 5934–5937.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201800173
• Ligand Effects on the Reactivity of [CoX]⁺ (X = CN, F, Cl, Br, O, OH) Towards CO₂: Gas-Phase Generation of the Elusive Cyanoformate by [Co(CN)]⁺ and [Fe(CN)]⁺,
  Marjan Firouzbakht, Nicole J. Rijs, Maria Schlangen, Martin Kaupp, Helmut Schwarz,
  Top. Catal. 2018, 61, 575–584.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-018-0903-8
• Experimental Identification of the Active Site in the Heteronuclear Redox Couples [AlVO_x]^+./CO/N₂O (x=3,4) by Gas-Phase IR Spectroscopy,
  Sreekanta Debnath, Harald Knorke, Wieland Schöllkopf, Shaodong Zhou, Knut R. Asmis, Helmut Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 7448–7452.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201804056
• Chemistry with Methane: Concepts Rather than Recipes,
  Helmut Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 10096–10115.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201006424
• Thermal Activation of Methane by Tetranuclear [V₄O₁₀]⁺,
  Sandra Feyel, Jens Döbler, Detlef Schröder, Joachim Sauer, Helmut Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 4681–4685.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200600188
• Thermal Hydrogen-Atom Transfer from Methane: The Role of Radicals and Spin States in Oxo-Cluster Chemistry,
  Nicolas Dietl, Maria Schlangen, Helmut Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 5544–5555.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201108363

Also of Interest

• Scholarly Integrity,
  Jonathan Faiz,
  ChemViews Mag. 2017.
  Joseph S. Francisco, Ulrike Hahn, and Helmut Schwarz discuss how scholarly integrity can be fostered
• Getting Holmium to React,
  Francesca Rita Novara,
  ChemViews Mag. 2016.
  Usually unreactive Ho(I) can activate thioaldehyde in reaction with toluene
• Karl Ziegler Prize for Helmut Schwarz,
  ChemViews Mag. 2015.
  Eminent physical and theoretical chemist receives one of the highest German honors in the field of chemistry
• Video: Angewandte Symposium in Tokyo: Prof. Schwarz,
  ChemistryViews.org 2011.