Professor Dr Peter R. Schreiner

Peter R. Schreiner’s scientific work aims at understanding organic chemistry at its most fundamental level, thereby bordering theoretical and physical chemistry. This includes the preparation of previously unknown (“difficult”) molecules, the introduction and use of hydrogen-bonding organocatalysts, and the development of the chemistry of nanodiamonds. The group utilizes combinations of chemical synthesis, spectroscopy, and high-level quantum computations for most projects.
Schreiner was (among) the first to introduce the concept of thiourea organocatalysis in 1997; since its inception, this field has become its own research discipline that is being pursued globally as it provides environmentally benign methods for the preparation of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and natural products. In the realm of new carbon materials, Schreiner has developed the potential of nanometer-sized diamond molecules (nanodiamonds) through selective C–H bond functionalizations. These new materials already found applications as pharmaceuticals (e.g., against Alzheimer’s disease) and as novel organic electronic materials (electron emitters). Schreiner and the theoretician Wesley D. Allen have discovered the concept of tunneling control of chemical reactions as the third paradigm –next to well-established thermodynamic and kinetic control– that governs chemical reactivity.