UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA
Description:
The University of Bologna, Alma Mater Studiorum, was founded in 1088 and is considered to be the oldest university in Western Europe. Nowadays, it still remains one of the most important institutions of higher education across Europe with more than 100.000 enrolled students, 23 faculties, 69 departments, 3000 academics and 3000 administrative staff. Some of the activities have been decentralised in four campus areas in the Romagna region (Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini).
The Department of the University of Bologna participating to the CATAFLU.OR project is the Department of Chemistry and, in particular, the research group led by Prof. Pier Giorgio Cozzi, who will act as project co-ordinator, supported by the Project Management Team of the University of Bologna.
The Organic Department of Bologna University is equipped with modern NMR instruments: 200, 300, 400, and access to 600 MHz, GMMS and electron spray HPLC MS, FT-IR.
In the CATAFLU.OR project the University of Bologna will be mainly involved in the synthesis of new chiral organocatalyst based on ferrocene framework, and the employments in domino organocatalytic reaction. Moreover, the research group of Pier Giorgio Cozzi will be participating in the activities aimed at the synthesis of new derivatives with the better catalyst developed by the consortium and, in collaboration with Prof. Stefan Toma from the Comenius University, it will be also involved in trying to use solid supports and ionic liquids for the organocatalysts prepared.
Pier Giorgio Cozzi has a permanent position as an Associate (tenured) Professor at the University of Bologna. He graduated in Milan (1989) and spent 4 years in Switzerland working with Professor Floriani at Lausanne University. He has the formation of Organic, Inorganic and Organometallic chemists, combining all these expertises in approaching by a rationale point of view the catalysis.
The development of new, enantioselective catalytic reactions through an extensive knowledge of organic and inorganic literature and through experimental planning represents his principal interest. He has spent several periods abroad as visiting scientist in Europe, USA, Canada and China. He has visited the most known Laboratories of Enantioslective catalysis in Europe, working with Professor Andreas Pfaltz (Basel), Professor Carsten Bolm (Aachen) and Professor Karl Anker Jorgense (Aarhus).
Prof. Pier Giorgio Cozzi has also an experience in collaborating with Industry as he was a visiting Scientist working with Ciba (Basel) for several months. He is actually strongly collaborating with Johnson Matthey catalysis for ligand synthesis based on ferrocene, and new reaction design.
Prof. Pier Giorgio Cozzi is author of more than 90 papers and 1 patent. He was invited lecturer in many congresses and meetings.
Recently the Pier Giorgio Cozzi research group has focused its attention towards the development of new chiral ligands.
Prof. Pier Giorgio Cozzi has already participated as partner to successful European projects funded by the 6th Framework Programme: The IBAAC consortium and the European LigBank.
In the context of the CATAFLU.OR project, the expertise in heterocyclic chemistry, ligand design and catalysis will be valuable for the synthesis and design of new effective “privileged” chiral ferrocene organocatalysts.
The research group led by Prof. Pier Giorgio Cozzi is well equipped with chiral GC and HPLC for the screening of enantioselective reactions. In the past 6 years the group has reached international reputation working in the area of enantioselective catalysis, using different types of ligands (Oxazoline, Salen, BINOL, PHOX, etc) in catalytic reduction and in selective addition of organometallic reagents to aldehyde and ketones.