Holger Braunschweig is Head and Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Germany. He is best known for founding the field of transition metal-

boron Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...

multiple bonding (transition metal borylenes), the synthesis of the first stable compounds containing boron-boron and boron-oxygen triple bonds, the isolation of the first non-carbon/nitrogen main-group dicarbonyl, and the first fixation of dinitrogen at an element of the p-block of the

periodic table The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...

. By modifying a strategy pioneered by Prof. Gregory Robinson of the University of Georgia, Braunschweig also discovered the first rational and high-yield synthesis of neutral compounds containing boron-boron double bonds (

diborene Diborane(2) or diborene is a theoretical/hypothetical inorganic compound with the formula B2H2. Diborenes also refers to a series of molecules with a formula R:(BH)=(BH):R, where R is an organic group. B2H2 are unstable under ambient conditions. T ...

s). In 2016 Braunschweig isolated the first compounds of beryllium in the oxidation state of zero.

Education and research career

Braunschweig obtained his Ph.D. and

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

from RWTH Aachen with P. Paetzold and worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Michael F. Lappert, FRS, at the University of Sussex,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. After two years at Imperial College London as Senior Lecturer and Reader he took up a Chair of

Inorganic Chemistry Inorganic chemistry deals with synthesis and behavior of inorganic and organometallic compounds. This field covers chemical compounds that are not carbon-based, which are the subjects of organic chemistry. The distinction between the two disci ...

at the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg in 2002, and is now also the founding director of th
Institute for Sustainable Chemistry & Catalysis with Boron (ICB)

Professional achievements

In 2009 Braunschweig was awarded the

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (german: link=no, Förderpreis für deutsche Wissenschaftler im Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft), in short Leibniz Prize, is awarded by the German Research Foundation to ...

of the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

(DFG) – the highest German-based research prize. He was also awarded the 2014 RSC Main Group Award

and the 2016 Alfred Stock Memorial Prize of the German Society of Chemistsbr>
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a member of the German National Academy of Science (Leopoldina

the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

br>
and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Artsbr>

References

External links

Group research website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braunschweig, Holger 21st-century German chemists 1961 births Living people Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina University of Würzburg faculty