Dr. Rebecca Melen, Cardiff University, UK, has been awarded the Clara Immerwahr Award for her contributions to the field of main group elements in catalysis. The prize recognizes her work on how main group elements can be used to drive reactions that are normally catalyzed by heavier transition metal catalysts. The award was presented at a public ceremony at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany, on February 12, 2016.
Since its launch in 2011, the annual Clara Immerwahr Award has honored a young female scientist at an early stage of their career for outstanding achievements in catalysis research. The award is presented by the Cluster of Excellence UniCat (Unifying Concepts in Catalysis), TU Berlin, and includes 15,000 € of financial support for a research stay at UniCat.
Rebecca Melen studied chemistry at Trent College, Nottingham, UK, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, UK, where she received her Ph.D. in 2012 under the supervision of Dominic Wright. She then joined Doug Stephan at the University of Toronto, Canada, for postdoctoral research. In 2013, Dr. Melen was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, which allowed her to work with Lutz Gade in Heidelberg, Germany. In 2014, she joined the University of Cardiff, UK, as Lecturer. Among other honors, Dr. Melen has received the 2013 RSC Dalton Young Researcher Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the 2014 European Young Researcher Award from EuroScience.
Dr. Melen’s research focuses on the use of main group Lewis acids in organic synthesis and catalysis. Her interests include catalyst design by tuning the steric and electronic effects of the Lewis acid, applications in organic synthesis and catalytic processes, and mechanistic studies to determine reaction pathways using combinations of experimental and theoretical methods.
Selected Publications
- Pathways to Functionalized Heterocycles: Propargyl Rearrangement using B(C6F5)3,
Lewis C. Wilkins, Philipp Wieneke, Paul D. Newman, Benson M. Kariuki, Frank Rominger, A. Stephen K. Hashmi, Max M. Hansmann, Rebecca L. Melen,
Organometallics 2015, 34, 5298–5309.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.5b00753 - Diverging Pathways in the Activation of Allenes with Lewis Acids and Bases: Addition, 1,2-Carboboration, and Cyclization,
Rebecca L. Melen, Lewis C. Wilkins, Benson M. Kariuki, Hubert Wadepohl, Lutz H. Gade, A. Stephen K. Hashmi, Douglas W. Stephan, Max M. Hansmann,
Organometallics 2015, 34, 4127–4137.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.5b00546 - σ- versus π-Activation of Alkynyl Benzoates Using B(C6F5)3,
Alexander Bähr, Lewis Wilkins, Kevin Ollegott, Benson Kariuki, Rebecca Melen,
Molecules 2015, 20, 4530–4547.
DOI: 10.3390/molecules20034530 - Catalytic versus stoichiometric dehydrocoupling using main group metals,
Robert J. Less, Rebecca L. Melen, Dominic S. Wright,
RSC Adv. 2012, 2, 2191–2199.
DOI: 10.1039/c2ra00882c - Catalytic dehydrocoupling of Me2NHBH3 with Al(NMe2)3,
Hugh J. Cowley, Mark S. Holt, Rebecca L. Melen, Jeremy M. Rawson, Dominic S. Wright,
Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 2682–2684.
DOI: 10.1039/c0cc05294a - Group 13 BN dehydrocoupling reagents, similar to transition metal catalysts but with unique reactivity,
Max M. Hansmann, Rebecca L. Melen, Dominic S. Wright,
Chem. Sci. 2011, 2, 1554–1559.
DOI: 10.1039/c1sc00154j
Also of Interest
- Clara Immerwahr Award 2015,
ChemViews Mag. 2015.
Anna Company Casadevall, University of Girona, Spain, honored - 100th Anniversary: Clara Immerwahr’s Death,
ChemViews Mag. 2015.
A role model for her pursuit of science in spite of obstacles and for her strong moral convictions - Clara Immerwahr Award 2014,
ChemViews Mag. 2014.
Dr. Teresa Santos-Silva, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal, has been awarded for outstanding achievements in catalysis research
