Andreas Pfaltz


Andreas Pfaltz is a Swiss chemist known for his work in the area of coordination chemistry and catalysis.

Education and professional life

Andreas Pfaltz studied at ETH Zurich, completing his undergraduate diploma in natural sciences in 1972 and his PhD in organic chemistry in 1978. His doctoral supervisor was Albert Eschenmoser, whose research into vitamin B12 and other corrin rings would influence Pfaltz's early research. Following a two-year postdoctoral position at Columbia University, working for Gilbert Stork on the synthesis of Rifamycin, he returned to ETH Zurich as a lecturer and began his own research. In 1990 he was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Basel, becoming a full professor in 1993. Between 1995 and 1998 he was a director of the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, afterwards returning to the University of Basel, where he has remained till the present day.

Research

Pfaltz's early research was influenced by his PhD supervisor Albert Eschenmoser and was largely based around the synthesis of corrins, porphyrins and other macrocycles. During the second half of the 1980s he began to use fragments of these macrocycles as novel ligands for asymmetric catalysis, with chiral C2-symmetric semicorrins being the most successful example. Following the development of structurally related biss Pfaltz began using and developing various oxazoline based ligands, making significant contributions to the known chemistry of phosphinooxazolines. His current research activities remain focused on ligand development, asymmetric catalysis and catalyst screening.

Professional appointments