Research

Main areas of research: Organometallic chemistry applied to organic synthesis; homogeneous catalysis; metathesis, synthesis of natural products and pharmaceutically active compounds

Alois Fürstners work is centered at the interface between organometallic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis and natural product total synthesis. He is well known for his numerous contributions to alkene and alkyne metathesis, as well as for investigations on novel and broadly applicable concepts for homogeneous catalysis (Nozaki-Kishi reactions catalytic in chromium, carbonyl coupling reactions catalytic in titanium, platinum and gold catalyzed skeletal rearrangements, iron catalyzed cross coupling reactions etc.). These methods paved the way for the total synthesis of many bioactive and structurally challenging natural products, including macrolides, alkaloids, terpenes and complex glycoconjugates.

Career

• 2016-2017, 2009-2011 Managing director, Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung
• since 1998 Director at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung and Professor at the  Technical University of Dortmund, Germany
• 1993-1998 Group leader at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung and Lecturer at the University of Dortmund, Germany
• 1992 Habilitation in Organic Chemistry at the Technical University Graz, Austria
• 1987 PhD at the Technical University Graz, Austria

Functions

• since 2017 Chiefeditor, Science of Synthesis
• 2014-2018 Chair, board of trustees, Angewandte Chemie
• since 2015 Member of the selection committee of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation for the Humboldt professorship
• since 2012 Member of the scientific council, Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ)
• 2010-2018 Member of the board of trustees,, Angewandte Chemie
• since 2008 Member of the Editorial Board, Science of Synthesis (earlier “Houben-Weyl“)
• 2004-2011 Member of the Board of Governors of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh)
• 2002-2010 Member of the Selection Committee of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, Feodor-Lynen-Program, Germany
• 2002-2009 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Institut für Organische Katalyseforschung Rostock, since 2003 Leibniz-Institute for Organic Catalysis at the University of Rostock, Germany
• 2001-2007 Scientific Editor of Chemical Communications
• 2001-2006 Editorial board member of Organic Syntheses

Honours and Memberships

• 2016 Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods
• 2015 Adolf Windaus-Medal, Göttingen
• 2014, 2015 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher
• 2014 Gay-Lussac-Humboldt Award
• 2014 Hans Herloff Inhoffen Medal
• 2013 Kitasato-Medal, Tokyo, Japan
• 2013 Karl Ziegler Award, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh)
• 2013 Prix Jaubert of the University Geneva, Switzerland
• 2011 Prelog Medal, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• 2006 Heinrich Wieland Prize
• 2006 Otto Bayer Prize
• 2005 Mukaiyama Award, Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan
• since 2004 Corresponding Member of the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
• since 2004 Member of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften
• 2004 Centenary Lecture, Royal Society of Chemistry
• since 2002 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2002 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society
• 1999 Leibniz Award, German Science Foundation (DFG)
• 1998 Ruhrpreis for Arts and Sciences, Mülheim/Ruhr
• 1994 Lecturer's scholarship, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie