De Chemische Binding

On the 20th of March we will host Prof. Dr. Bert Meijer from the TU/e. He is the founding father of supramolecular polymer chemistry, and is one of the most distinguished professors in The Netherlands. He started his academic career right here in Groningen, and was actually a CB member during his studies! After the lecture we will go to the Luchtbrug to have some drinks and talk to each other and Prof. Meijer. Do not miss this opportunity!

Abstract

With my first classes Organic Chemistry in Groningen during the period of 1972-1975, I fell in love with stereochemistry and the chiral world around us. In my PhD with Professor Hans Wynberg, I was able to study many novel aspects in chirality; a research filed I always kept close to my heart even during my days in industry. In the lecture I will give an overview of our science in stereochemistry. From a historical perspective and the challenges of today, I hope to show my excitement for science and how I used my education in Groningen in my present position in Eindhoven.

One of the topics that I will discuss is the development of supramolecular polymers, being one of the main parts of our research today. Although the word polymer was already coined by Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1833, it was through the pioneering work of Hermann Staudinger in 1920, that it was recognized that the macroscopic properties of polymers both in solution and solid state are the result of the macromolecular nature of the molecules. The impressive progress in supramolecular chemistry, however, paved the way to design polymers and polymeric materials that lack the macromolecular structure. Instead, highly directional secondary interactions are used to assemble the many repeating units into a polymer array. Especially ordered arrays of monomers are highly interesting due to the cooperative nature of their supramolecular polymerization processes and the chirality of the polymers formed.

About Prof. Dr. Meijer

E.W. “Bert” Meijer is Distinguished University Professor in the Molecular Sciences, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems of the Eindhoven University of Technology. After receiving his PhD degree at the University of Groningen with Hans Wynberg, he worked for 10 years in industry (Philips and DSM). In 1991 he was appointed in Eindhoven, while in the meantime he has part-time positions in Nijmegen, Mainz and Santa Barbara, CA. Bert Meijer is a member of many editorial advisory boards, including Advanced Materials and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Bert Meijer has received a number of awards, including the Spinoza Award in 2001, the ACS Award for Polymer Chemistry in 2006, the AkzoNobel Science Award 2010, the International Award of the Society of Polymer Science Japan in 2011, the Cope Scholar Award of the ACS in 2012, the Prelog Medal in 2014, the Nagoya Gold Medal in 2017 and the Chirality Medal in 2018. He is member of a number of academies and societies, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science, where he is appointed to Academy Professor in 2014.

Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that there is a possibility that the event will be cancelled due to COVID-19. 

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