Congrats to Robert Mayer for winning the prize for best oral presentation at the REGIO Symposium in Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany. The REGIO Symposium is an annual tri-national conference on organic chemistry held jointly between the universities in the lower Rhine region (Freiburg, Basel, Strasbourg and Mulhouse). Roberts’ talk was on how metals influence the reactivity of coenzymes in the absence of enzymes. Well done!
Robert’s book chapter summarizing his recent mechanistic work on nonenzymatic analogs of amino acid biosynthesis has been accepted for publication in Advances in Physical Organic Chemistry. Congrats!
Valentyn and Cyprien’s review of new synthetic methods to prepare β-arylethylamines has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Congrats!
Quentin’s paper showing substantial cooperative effects between pyridoxal and Fe(III) or Al(III) ions in prebiotic transamination reactions is accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Many thanks to Robert for the DFT studies. The last paper from Kamila’s time in the group – the end of an era. Congrats to all!
Cypriens’s paper on isochroman synthesis starting from epoxides in HFIP has been accepted for publication in Chemical Science. Congrats!
Our collaboration with the Tüysüz lab (Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Mülheim) and the Martin lab (Düsseldorf) has yielded its latest publication in Nature Communications. Building on our previous papers from 2018 and 2020, CO2 and H2 is shown to react over awaruite (Ni3Fe) nanoparticles to give acetate and pyruvate at room temperature. The pyruvate can react further under those conditions to give the C5 metabolite citramalate, a reaction paralleling microbial metabolism.
Congratulations and farewell to long-time group member Dr. Kamila Muchowska, who accepts an associate position in integrative consulting at McKinsey, London, UK. Kamila published eight papers in the group, with one still to come. She was a postdoc in the group from 2016-2019 and a CNRS research associate (equivalent to assistant professor) from 2019-2022. We are grateful for her many contributions over the years, both scientific and social. She will be missed. Best of luck in the new career and come visit often!
Valentyn and Marie’s paper on the 1,2-aminoarylation of alkenes to directly form unprotected primary amines has been accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Our fourth paper in that journal in the past 9 months! Congrats!
Congrats to Sophia Rauscher on successfully defending her thesis! She is the twelfth PhD student to graduate from the group. Special thanks to jury members Prof. Sheref Mansy (Alberta), Dr. Thibault Cantat (CEA), and Prof. Xavier Bugaut (Strasbourg) for being part of the jury. After a few months finishing up her last papers, Sophia will join Bachem in Basel, Switzerland. Best of luck and keep in touch!
Congrats to Harpreet Kaur on successfully defending her thesis! She is the eleventh PhD student to graduate from the group. Special thanks to jury members Prof. Jeremy Wulff (Victoria), Prof. Yannick Vallée (Grenoble), and Dr. Claudia Bonfio (Strasbourg) for being part of the jury. Harpreet will stick around the lab for a few months to finish some last papers before heading off for a postdoc with Prof. Sheref Mansy at the University of Alberta, Canada. Best of luck!
The Moran Research Group 