Barbara Messerle

Biography

Ph.D. University of Sydney 1987. Postdoctoral Fellow ETH Zürich, Switzerland 1987-1989, Gritton Research Fellow, University of Sydney 1990-1991; ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellow 1992-1997, and ARC Senior Research Fellow 1997-1998, at the University of Sydney. At UNSW: ARC Senior Research Fellow 1999-2002, Senior Lecturer 2002-2003, Associate Professor 2004-2007, Professor 2008- 2014. At Macquarie University: Executive Dean, Science and Engineering and Professor, 2015-

Research Interest

Enhancing the economic viability and energy efficiency of chemical transformations is of fundamental importance in the chemicals industry today. Organometallic catalysts are an important means of providing new and highly efficient routes for chemical processes, and the development of new transition metal catalysts for promoting the synthesis of key compounds is a major goal in the development of synthetic routes with minimum energy use. Our research program has made contributions to the design of new metal complexes for promoting key chemical reactions, and to the development of new methodologies for catalysed synthetic routes including the fundamentally important C-X bond forming reactions and multistep reactions. The work has provided new insights into highly accessible and efficient metal catalysts, including multimetallic systems. The work will ultimately improve the viability of the synthesis of important biologically active molecules and pharmaceuticals in the fine chemicals industry. In promoting the development of advanced NMR techniques in organometallic chemistry, our research has led to wider insights into catalyst structure and function. Novel Organometallic Complexes and Hybrid Catalysts