News Archive 2023
PhD Fellowship of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff
Congratulations to Mr. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff for receiving a doctoral fellowship of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Mr. Kirchhoff conducts research in the field of silicon chemistry on the synthesis and transformation of Si–N,O-functionalized silanes, focusing on mechanistic aspects at the silicon center
He combines spectroscopic investigations, quantum mechanics calculations and X-ray structure diffraction in order to better understand the reactivity of tetravalent, and in some cases even chiral, silicon compounds and to optimize reaction conditions. These may vary from very low temperatures to high temperatures using laboratory microwaves.
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is one of the Federal Ministry of Education & Research's Begabtenförderungswerke (gifted and talented organization) and supports both talented students and doctoral candidates. The doctoral funding supports high-performing, socio-politically motivated young researchers who like to do voluntary work.
We would like to thank the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for its generous funding and support and are very pleased that Mr. Kirchhoff was able to impress the jury in the final interview.
Lithium alkyls as source for lithium hydride?
Our research group was able to observe a lithium hydride transfer reaction of secondary and tertiary lithium alkyls to hexamethylacetone by targeted aggregate formation. By combining in situ FTIR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations, the reaction mechanism of a simultaneous β-hydride elimination and lithium hydride addition at unusually low temperature could be elucidated. More information on the article can be found on the following page or in the original publication:
Alkyllithium Reagents as a Hidden Source of Lithium Hydride
J. Kleinheider, C. Schwab, C. Strohmann*
Organometallics 2023, 42, 3173–3177.
Configuration Studies of Palladium Complexes
In the latest publication of our group, temperature-dependent inversion processes in square-planar palladium(II) chloride complexes formed by silyl-substituted thioether ligands were investigated in solution by NMR spectroscopy. Further information can be found on the following page or in the original publication:
Synthesis of Organosilicon-Based Thioether Ligand Class Showing Defined S-Stereogenic Coordination in Crystalline Palladium(II) Complexes
P. E. Schneider, J. Wattenberg, J. F. Wappelhorst, M. Knorr, C. Strohmann*
Z. Allg. Anorg. Chem. 2023, 649, e202300185.
Bruker AXS European SC-XRD Users Meeting 2023 in Karlsruhe
At this year's Bruker AXS Users Meeting in Karlsruhe on October 10th-11th, Paul Erik Schneider and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff from our research group had the chance to learn about Bruker's latest techniques for X-ray diffraction and its use in X-ray structure analysis. According to the motto "Advanced Applications", the staff presented their latest equipment including updated software on the first day and demonstrated the new possibilities for structure investigations of molecules up to proteins. In the many workshops followed, the participants had the opportunity to be introduced to this new equipment and software and to try out what they had learned themselves. On the second day, the focus was on many interesting presentations by scientists as well as companies concerning various X-ray diffraction experiments for different chemical questions.
Overall, the Bruker AXS European SC-XRD Users Meeting 2023 was a valuable opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the field of X-ray diffraction and to exchange ideas with experts from universities in the field of X-ray structure analysis.
We would like to thank Bruker for the opportunity to participate.
Fachgruppentag Sustainable Chemistry 2023 at BASF in Ludwigshafen
For the second time the Fachgruppentag Sustainable Chemistry was organized together by the GDCh-Division Group Sustainable Chemistry and the JCF's (Young Chemists Network) Team Sustainability. This year, all participants were invited to BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen. In addition to an exciting lecture held by Dr. Carla Seidel, member of the GDCh Board of Directors, Prof. Dr. Sonja Herres-Pawlis (RWTH Aachen) and Dr. Dagmar Pascale Kunsmann-Keitel (BASF) from the Division Board as well as junior research group leader Dr. Thomas Seidensticker (TU Dortmund, BCI) presented on sustainable synthesis and degradation techniques of polymers.
A total of three young doctoral students were also selected from several interested participants to present their research. Among them were two members of our research group. Ms. Annika Schmidt was able to present her research on understanding the mechanism of anionic polymerization in the context of building sustainable polymers, while Mr. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff lectured on his research on sustainable synthesis methods of alkoxymethoxysilanes.
In addition, all guests at the conference were able to take part in a tour of BASF's approximately 10 km2 site, during which the latest projects in the field of digitalization and machine learning were presented. Afterwards, smaller groups had the opportunity to visit the production facilities of new sodium-sulfur accumulators or to participate in a laboratory tour of the department of biodegradable plastics.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Sustainable Chemistry Division Board, the Team Sustainability of the JCF, and BASF for that successful day including a diverse program. We are already looking forward to next year's event.
GDCh Science Forum Chemistry 2023 in Leipzig
From September 04-06, 2023, this year's GDCh Science Forum Chemistry (WiFo) took place in Leipzig. Students and PhD students Julius Hättasch, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Franziska Klotz, Tristan Mairath, Michael Nuss, Arnold Ressel, Robin Risken, Annika Schmidt, Paul-Erik Schneider, Mara Schöler, Tobias Schrimpf, Thokozire Sweetland and Jan Frederick Wappelhorst from our working group participated. They all presented and discussed their research results on a total of 13 scientific poster contributions. Thus, all students who have done a thesis (bachelor or master) in our working group during the last year were again able to present their obtained results.
The results presented ranged from topics on (stereo)selective Si–N and Si–O transformation, for example with microwave technology, to studies on the synthesis and reactivity of alkali metal organyls, especially lithium alkyls, to the asymmetric synthesis of planar chiral ferrocenes.
The GDCh Science Forum Chemistry is the largest general chemistry conference in Germany and reaches across most topics of chemistry in an interdisciplinary way. Thus, in addition to lectures in area-specific topic sessions, the focus is particularly on interdisciplinary exchange.
For the conference with the motto "Rethinking Chemistry" we were supported by a large number of GDCh travel grants. Further information can be found on the following page. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) for their generous financial support and especially to the organizers of WiFos 2023.
Gordon Research Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry in Holderness, New Hampshire, USA
Franziska Klotz and Annika Schmidt from our working group attended this year's Gordon Research Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry. Franziska was able to present her bachelor’s research results in a talk in front of an audience of doctorates and PostDocs, while Annika was supported with one of three german-wide travel grants of the GDCh in the amount of 1000€.
he Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) are internationally renowned conferences held at regular intervals on a wide variety of scientific topics. This year, the Gordon Research Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry took place from 25.06. - 30.06.2023 at the Holderness School in New Hampshire in the USA.
In addition, a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) was held in advance of the conference, which is especially aimed at young scientists. In this context, Franziska Klotz was able to give a talk entitled "Transformation and Crystallization of Stereogenic Silicon Centers".
This year, the GRC on Physical Organic Chemistry was held under the motto "Analyzing, Understanding and Predicting Organic Reactivity", with 30 invited talks and 120 poster contributions reporting on the current scientific status in the field of physical organic chemistry. Franziska Klotz and Annika Schmidt also presented their research results in one poster contribution each, that can be found on the following page.
Finally, we would like to thank the chairmen Burkhard König and Cornelia Bohne for the excellent organization, as well as the GDCh for the support in the form of the travel grant.
Insights into the Molecular Halogen Bond
In a new publication of our group the effects of an isolated halogen bond on the nucleophile used were investigated experimentally. Further information can be found on the following page or in the original publication:
Gauging the Strength of the Molecular Halogen Bond via Experimental Electron Density and Spectroscopy
F. Otte, J. Kleinheider, B. Grabe, W. Hiller, F. Busse, R. Wang, N. M. Kreienborg, C. Merten*, U. Englert*, C. Strohmann*
ACS Omega 2023, 8, 21531-21539.
Degrees and Awards during the graduation ceremony at the 16. Tag der Chemie
To conclude the winter semester 2022/23, the 16. Tag der Chemie took place on March 31th 2023 to honor the graduates from the faculty for their achievements. From our working group Robin Risken, Michael Nuss, Tristan Mairath and Arnold Ressel could successfully complete their bachelor studies and Mr. Ressel was also honored for his outstanding degree.
In addition to the bachelor degrees, Ms. Rana Seymen successfully completed her PhD in 2022. Annika Schmidt was able to give an overview of her current research on anionic polymerization with a short talk and a poster contribution at this day. Rebecca Scheel also presented her research results on microwave-based deprotonation reactions with lithium alkyls in a short talk.
We congratulate all graduates and wish them good luck for their future.
Part of the turbo-Grignard puzzle unraveled
A new publication of the AK Strohmann together with the NMR team of the faculty CCB in the journal Angewandte Chemie. More details about the article on the following page or in the original publication:
Comprehensive Study of the Enhanced Reactivity of Turbo-Gignard-Reagents
A. Hermann, R. Seymen, L. Brieger, J. Kleinheider, B. Grabe, W. Hiller, C. Strohmann*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202302489.
Presentation Award for Rebecca Scheel at the 11th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr 2023
At this year's 11th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr, Rebecca Scheel was awarded a lecture prize for her oral presentation entitled "The Fusion of tert-Butyllithium and Microwave Radiation: Deprotonation Reactions under High Temperatures". She presented her research results on microwave-based deprotonation with lithium alkyls. The use of lithium alkyls under microwave radiation can provide access to the metalation of inert substrates, to multiple metalations as well as to the optimization of already existing deprotonation reactions.
We thank the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft for the financial support.
GDCh-JCF „Frühjahrssymposium“ (Spring Symposium) 2023 in Gießen
This "Frühjahrssymposium" (Spring Symposium) of the Young Chemists Network (JCF) took place according to the motto Chemistry Is Coming Home from 21 - 24 March 2023 at the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff from our working group had the opportunity to present his research on targeted substitution processes on functionalized silanes in a poster contribution. In addition to two poster sessions, young students and PhD students respectively also had the chance to share their research to a broad audience in oral presentations. A highlight of the conference was the opening lecture held by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Ben List, which addressed new possibilities for CO2 conversion.
Beyond that, the participants had plenty of time in industry workshops as well as networking sessions to exchange ideas in face-to-face conversations as well as with potential future employers.
We would like to thank the German Chemical Society, the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie and the German Research Foundation for their financial support of our working group. Furthermore, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the entire organization team of the JCF Gießen, who realized this year's spring symposium.
Chemiedozententagung in Dresden 2023
This year's Chemiedozententagung took place from March, 13th – 15th, 2023 at the TU Dresden. Franziska Klotz, Annika Schmidt and Prof. Dr. Carsten Strohmann from our working group traveled together to Dresden to the event, which was prepared and organized by the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the Association of German University Professors (ADUC).
The Chemiedozententagung (CDT) is a conference that brings together young academics as well as professors from all fields of chemistry. It is one of the best opportunities to get to know the current chemistry research landscape in Germany.
In a comfortable setting between exciting lectures and workshops, there was thus the opportunity to network and, for example, to meet professors who cover similar research fields and whose work may already have been read and cited themselves. Thus, we were also able to meet and exchange ideas with Prof. Dr. Norbert Mitzel, Professor for Inorganic Chemistry and Structural Chemistry at Bielefeld University and ADUC Chairman, in Dresden.
11th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr 2023
On March 2nd, 2023, the 11th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr took place at TU Dortmund University under the motto "Creating Sustainability". The conference, which is sponsored by the GDCh, gives young chemists from the Ruhr area the opportunity to exchange research results and make new contacts. Johannes Kleinheider, Franziska Klotz, Anna Krupp, Tristan Mairath, Rebecca Scheel, Annika Schmidt, Tobias Schrimpf, Paul Erik Schneider, Christoph Schwab, Jan Frederick Wappelhorst and Jonathan Wattenberg were able to present their latest results of research in the form of 10 poster contributions as well as 2 oral presentations and to provide interesting insights into the diverse topics of the research group. In addition to numerous oral presentations and also poster sessions, there were also professional extern workshops on sustainability and resource-conserving chemistry, as well as networking opportunities with representatives of industry partners, such as BASF, Altana and Evonik.
We would like to thank the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker e.V., the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for their financial support of our research group. Moreover, our thanks go to Annika Schmidt and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff as well as the entire JCF Dortmund team for their commitment and great organization.
Kekulé Doctoral Scholarship of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie for Annika Schmidt
Congratulations to Ms. Annika Schmidt for receiving the Kekulé Scholarship of the Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie. After shortening the duration of her master's degree in chemistry to three semesters, Ms. Schmidt graduated in March 2022 with her master's thesis on initiators for anionic polymerizations and mechanistic studies on the first carbometallation step. After a six-month industrial internship, she will now begin her doctoral studies, which will focus on functionalized organolithium initiators for the targeted incorporation of multiple functionalities in anionic polymerizations and the elucidation of the mechanism of the individual steps and active structures of anionic polymerization.
The Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie supports doctoral students of chemistry or chemistry-related subjects with outstanding academic performance and graduation in regular study time in excellent working groups. We would like to thank the Verband der Chemischen Industrie for its generous sponsorship and support and are very pleased that Ms. Schmidt was able to convince the reviewers in the selection process.
A Silicon-Stereogenic Silanol – 18O-Isotope Labeling and Stereogenic Probe Reveals Hidden Stereospecific Water Exchange Reaction:
F. Langenohl, J. Rösler, S. Zühlke, J.-L. Kirchhoff, C. Strohmann,
Chem. Eur. J. 2023, 29, e202202935.
Best of the Year Award of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
We congratulate Ms. Annika Schmidt for the best of the year award of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology 2022. Every year, the best graduates of each of the sixteen faculties of the TU Dortmund University are honored during the annual academic celebration.
Ms. Annika Schmidt excellently completed her master's degree in a shortened period of study after three semesters with her master's thesis on "Initiators for anionic polymerizations: Mechanistic studies on the first carbometallation step". Currently, she is working on functionalized organolithium initiators and elucidating the mechanism of the individual substeps of anionic polymerization.
Selective monosubstitution on a trichlorosilane with highly reactive organolithium compounds in a microflow reactor:
M. Achternbosch, L. Zibula, A. Schmidt, W. Krieger, N. Kockmann, C. Strohmann,
J. Flow Chem. 2023, 13, 9-12.