Research

Research Priorities: catalysis, hydrogen production, green chemistry

David Milstein is an Israeli chemist whose research priorities lie in the areas of catalytic design, green chemistry and organometallic chemistry. David Milstein’s research has been dedicated to organometallic chemistry and the development of transition metal catalysts and reactions for green chemistry. These include hydrolysis and the production of hydrogen from renewable resources. He has developed different reactions for activating certain bonds – such as carbon-carbon – using transition metal complexes, and discovered a new method for forming organic amide bonds by coupling alcohols and amines. This method was heralded as one of the breakthroughs of the year in 2007 by “Science” magazine. In 2009, he set out an approach for splitting water in a gentle way using sunlight and a ruthenium complex.

Career

• 2006 Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• 2001 Visiting Professor, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
• 2001 Visiting Professor, École normale supérieure de Paris (ENS), Paris, France
• 2001 Visiting Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
• 2000-2004 Visiting Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
• 2000-2017 Head, The Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Molecular Design, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
• 1998 Visiting Professor, National Science Council, Taipei, Taiwan
• 1996 Visiting Professor, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• 1996 Visiting Professor, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), Hungary
• 1996-2005 Head, Department of Organic Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
• since 1993 Full Professor, Department of Organic Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
• 1989 Visiting Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
• 1987-1992 Associate Professor, Department of Organic Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
• 1983-1986 Group Leader, Central Research and Development Department, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington D.C., USA
• 1979-1982 Senior Research Chemist, Central Research and Development Department, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA
• 1977-1978 Post-doctoral Fellow, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
• 1976 Doctorate, Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
• 1969 Master’s degree, Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
• 1968 Bachelor’s degree, Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

Functions

• 2006 Member, Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Honours and Memberships

• 2019 Blaise Pascal Medal, European Academy of Sciences
• 2019 Member, Royal Society, UK
• 2018 Member, National Academy of Sciences, USA
• 2017 European Prize of Organometallic Chemistry, EuChemS Division of Organometallic Chemistry, European Chemical Society (EuChemS)
• 2017 Gold Medal, Israel Chemical Society (ICS), Israel
• 2016 ENI Award for Protection of the Environment, Eni S.p.A., Rome, Italy
• since 2012 Member, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Israel
• 2012 Israel Prize in Chemistry and Physics, Israel
• 2011 Lise Meitner-Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany
• since 2010 Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
• 2010 Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
• 2007 Award in Organometallic Chemistry, American Chemical Society (ACS), USA
• 2006 Israel Chemical Society Prize, ICS, Israel
• since 2006 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
• 2000 The Izaak Maurits Kolthoff Prize in Chemistry, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• 1999 The Paolo Chini Memorial Award, Italian Chemical Society (SCI), Italy
• 1985 DuPont Chemical Excellence Award, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA
• 1984 DuPont Chemical Excellence Award, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA
• 1983 DuPont Chemical Excellence Award, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA
• 1982 DuPont Chemical Excellence Award, DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, USA
• 1977 Hebrew Technical Institute Award, Hebrew Technical Institute, New York City, USA
• 1976 Hebrew Technical Institute Award, Hebrew Technical Institute, New York City, USA