Open AccessSynthesis and NMR Spectroscopic Characterization of Organometallics in the Laboratory of Wolfgang von Philipsborn: Reminiscences of Former Graduate Students
Author(s) -
Andreas Hafner,
Daniel Nanz,
Umberto Piantini,
Daniel Rentsch,
Carlo Täschler,
Oliver Zerbe
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2009.568
Subject(s) - graduate students , characterization (materials science) , chemistry , organometallic chemistry , main group element , reactivity (psychology) , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , transition metal , materials science , catalysis , sociology , medicine , pedagogy , alternative medicine , pathology
On the occasion of his 80th birthday, former graduate students from the group of Prof. Wolfgang von Philipsborn from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Zurich, describe from a personal perspective the scientific achievements of his group in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance, mainly applied to transition metals and in the field of organometallic chemistry. Interest in metal chemical shifts is driven by the need to understand reactivity of organometallic compounds in catalysis. Progress in the field is very much related to the technical development of NMR instruments. The range of experiments spans from simple 1D experiments with direct metal detection to 2D NMR experiments, in which metal frequencies are encoded via their attached protons or phosphorous ligands. Other examples come from the structural biology of metal-containing proteins or form the measurement of scalar couplings to quadrupolar nuclei via lineshape analysis. A particular emphasis is presented on how collaborations from various groups at the campus have been fruitful to the scientific progress in the von Philipsborn group. The article also contains a number of personal anecdotes that document life of the graduate students in his group at that time.