First Umicore Catalysis Symposium

Keynote speakers Robert Grubbs and Nilay Hazari

Scientists and leaders in chemical process research and development attended a successful 1st Umicore Catalysis Symposium at the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The aim of this one-day symposium was to enable our customers and partners to exchange on the latest developments of homogeneous catalysis technologies and their applications at industrial scale in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. The day was filled with interesting presentations on topics like:

Metathesis as a powerful technology for sustainable synthesis of complex chemicals
Novel developments in cross-coupling and C-H activation chemistry
Recent industrial applications of stereoselective hydrogenation

Robert Grubbs (Nobel Laureate) and Nilay Hazari in particular caused great interest. Also the presentation by scientific leaders at global pharmaceutical companies were no less exciting.

The speakers and their topics

Prof. Robert Grubbs, Nobel Laureate, California Institute of Technology: Development and Application of Selective Olefin Metathesis Catalysts

Prof. Nilay Hazari, Yale University: The Rational Design of Precatalysts for Cross-Coupling and Related Reactions

Dr. Neil Strotman, Merck and Co.: Applications of Transition Metal Catalysis in the Merck Pipeline

Dr. Janelle Steves, GlaxoSmithKline: A Mechanism Driven, High-Throughput Chemistry Approach to Development of a Diastereoselective [2+2+2] Cycloaddition

Dr. Sebastien Monfette, Pfizer: Process development for Lorlatinib and mechanistic investigation into a Pd-catalyzed macrocyclization

Dr. Philip Wheeler, Umicore: Beyond Macrocycles: Bond Disconnections Enabled by Metathesis

Dr. Carolyn Wei, Bristol-Myers Squibb: A Mechanistic Approach towards Developing Robust, Scalable Transition-Metal Catalyzed
Processes: From Catalyst Activation to Catalyst Death

Dr. Alan Cherney, Amgen: Enabling Pharmaceutical Process Development Through Catalysis Innovation