Helmut Schwarz celebrates his 70th birthday on August 6th, 2013. Schwarz has received many honors and awards for his work in fundamental research. He is interested in using experimental and theoretical methods to study chemistry in the gas phase.

Currently, he is particularly focused on organometallic chemistry, especially on the issue of selective bond activation in organic molecules by transition metal species. His group aims to improve the understanding of observed reaction pathways and mechanisms by the mapping of potential energy surfaces by locating and characterizing minima and transition states.

Helmut Schwarz, born in 1943 in Nickenich, Germany, studied chemistry at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany, and gained his PhD in 1972. He went on to complete his Habilitation in 1974 and in 1978 he was appointed professor in Chemistry at TU Berlin, where he has remained since.

He has also been president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since January 2008. Schwarz has also worked as a visiting professor at research institutions in a number of countries, including the USA, UK, Israel, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, France, and Canada.

Recent publications by Helmut Schwarz:

• On the Origin of the Surprisingly Sluggish Redox Reaction of the N₂O/CO Couple Mediated by [Y₂O₂]^+• and [YAlO₂]^+• Cluster Ions in the Gas Phase,
  J.-B. Ma, Z.-C. Wang, M. Schlangen, S.-G. He, H. Schwarz,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 1226–1230.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201208559
• Gas-Phase Reactions of Cationic Vanadium-Phosphorus Oxide Clusters with C₂Hx (x = 4, 6): A DFT-Based Analysis of Reactivity Patterns
  N. Dietl, X. Zhang, C. van der Linde, M. K. Beyer, M. Schlangen, H. Schwarz,
  Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 3017–3028.
  DOI: 10.1002/chem.201203050
• Structure and Chemistry of the Heteronuclear Oxo-Cluster [VPO₄]^•+: A Model System for the Gas-Phase Oxidation of Small Hydrocarbons
  N. Dietl, T. Wende, K. Chen, L. Jiang, M. Schlangen, X. Zhang, K. R. Asmis, H. Schwarz
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 3711–3721.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja400198y

Also of interest:

• Fundamental Research Needs Excellent Scientists and its Own Space,
  Jonathan Faiz,
  ChemViews mag. 2011.
  Helmut Schwarz and Daniela Kneißl outline the requirements for excellent fundamental research
• Video: Angewandte Symposium in Tokyo: Prof. Schwarz