Chemical reactions pass through one or more transient stages – reactive intermediates – on their way from reactant to product. These short-lived reactive intermediates often determine the course of the reaction. Learning more about the fate and properties of reactive intermediates often brings not only a basic understanding of the elementary steps of a reaction, but also offers the possibility to steer the reaction.

Reactive intermediates play a key role in understanding the mechanistic details in homogeneous catalysis. We cannot only "see" and manipulate these important intermediates, but also understand reactivity based on recently developed novel methods to extract quantitative thermochemical and kinetic data.

The tools we use in our integrated program include chemical synthesis, mass spectrometry, computer program development, computational chemistry and new instrument construction.

Our current research interests are C–H activation, olefin metathesis, Ziegler–Natta polymerization, catalytic hydrogenation and nonlinear effects in asymmetric catalysis.

Have a look at our papers to learn more about our research or take a tour of our labs.