Dept. of Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Pher G. Andersson
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Curriculum Vitae:
B.A., 1988
Ph.D., 1991
Bjurzons award, 1992
Fullbright Postdoctoral Fellow, 1992-93
Docent, Uppsala University, 1994
Oscar award, 1995
Junior Individual Grant for outstanding young researchers, 1997
Professor, 1999
AstraZeneca Research Award in Organic Chemistry, 2004
Chairman of the management committee for COST D24
"Sustainable Chemical Processes: Stereoselective Transition Metal-Catalysed Reactions".
Organic chemistry has many practical applications; dyes, foods, explosives, plastics and polymers are all classic products. Generally, however, the trend is moving toward producing complicated structures capable of fulfilling very special functions. Current and future applications include fine chemicals, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, which all place very high demands on the purity and properties of the final product.
A common problem with synthesis of organic compounds is that several different products are formed. Not only can it be difficult to isolate the desired product from the mixture, but a large quantity of waste is also generated that entails undesirable economic and environmental consequences. Synthesis of complicated structures is also difficult because many compounds can be found as mirror images of one another.
My research has two goals: developing new reactions and increased selectivity. To find new types of reactions we use metal-containing compounds. The metal, which has completely different properties than the organic compound, affects this and reactions can take place in this interplay which would otherwise be impossible. The metal can often be used as a catalyst, which can offer both economic and environmental advantages. By binding organic compounds (ligands) to the metal you can influence its ability to catalyze reactions. We use this method to create catalytic converters that only react with certain substrates and that only result in one type of product. The work is fun and varied, involving synthesis of new ligands, studies of reaction mechanisms, and theoretical calculations with the help of which you can (sometimes) predict the properties and reactivity of a compound.
It is my hope that our research will increase understanding for the correlation between structure and reactivity and that it will also lead to discoveries of new, stereo-selective reactions.
Pher G. Andersson