The Department of Chemistry under the School of Engineering and Sciences hosted a guest lecture by Dr Soumyadeep Chakrabortty on the topic Powering Homogeneous (Asymmetric) Catalysis with Earth-Abundant Metals. The speaker, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck Institute, discussed how common, earth-abundant metals like iron and cobalt can be used to replace expensive precious metals such as rhodium and ruthenium in important chemical reactions.

Dr Chakrabortty explained how a cobalt catalyst can facilitate precise, selective hydrogenation reactions. He also described how an iron catalyst can efficiently transform terminal alkynes through a modified mechanism.

The event was attended by faculty members, including Professor C P Rao and Associate Professors – Dr Sabyasachi Chakrabortty, Dr  S Mannathan, Dr Kamatham Narayanaswamy, Dr Seema Rani, Dr Ventrapati Pavan Kumar and Dr Balaji Babu, among others, as well as scholars and students from the Department of Chemistry.

Following the lecture, a Q&A session took place, wherein participants raised their queries and sought clarifications.