Organometallic Synthesis Laboratory

Description of the Group

Research carried out by this group concerns application of different catalytic reactions in organic synthesis, especially in synthesis of natural products, polymers and pharmaceuticals. Currently, work of the group is focused on organic synthesis by means of transition metals, with emphasis on metathesis of alkenes and alkynes, and on chemistry of renewable resources. Such research must be conducted under the atmosphere of an inert gas, by use of the Schlenk technique, that allows you to work under anhydrous and anaerobic conditions.

Research Services

The main research areas of this group are designing new, user-friendly catalysts that enable easier purification of reaction products, analyzing the possibilities of the reuse of catalysts, and expanding the application range of metathesis in organic synthesis.

The research laboratory of this group is fully equipped with modern instruments, including dry-boxes, GC, GC/MS and HPLC chromatographs, NMR 400 MHz spectrometer with autosampler.

Research Activities

The research group performs commissioned B+R tasks for foreign and national external entities in the range of optimization of organic reactions, synthesis and tests of catalysts (including various complexes of transition metals). There is a possibility of performing basic services and analyses at the Laboratory of Organometallic Synthesis by the interested individual after the necessary training (there is no technician at the Laboratory):

• identification of volatile organic substances (qualitative assessment of chemical composition and pollution degree of organic substances)
• measurement of NMR spectra in isotropic fluid systems – the price of the measurements is calculated according to real time of acquisition and does not include logging time of the user
• work with substances sensitive to moisture or/and air under the atmosphere of an inert gas (argon)
• drying and purification of solvents under the atmosphere of an inert gas (argon).

Offer

• NMR measurements
• Determination of small quantities of water in liquid and solid samples (Karl Fisher titration)
• Preparation of reports on the existing state of knowledge in organic and metal-organic chemistry
• Optimisation of existing synthetic pathways
• Synthesis of model compounds according to provided synthetic procedures
• Synthesis of compound libraries
• Development of new synthesis methods for a given compound
• Development of transition metal complexes with predefined properties

Team Leader

Professor Karol Grela deals with issues related to the synthesis of organic compounds, olefin metathesis and organometallic chemistry in general. He received his Master Engineer’s degree at the Faculty of Chemistry of the Warsaw University of Technology, and then his PhD degree at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences. After a doctoral internship with Professor Alois Fürstner at the Max Planck Institute in Mülheim, he returned to Poland, where he defended his habilitation (Institute of Organic Chemistry) in 2003 and was awarded the title of professor in 2008. He has won numerous awards and his scientific output includes more than 160 publications and 18 patent families. Professor Grela’s research results are applied in practice in the industry, and several catalysts developed in Warsaw have been commercialized. Prof. Grela is a member of the boards of chemical journals publishing houses, a member of many chemical societies, a member of the Team of Experts of the National Science Centre and the Scientific Advisory Board of Polpharma SA, as well as a Scientific Advisor to Apeiron Synthesis SA.