Professor Michal Szostak

Office: LSC II 219

73 Warren Street

Newark, NJ 07102

Check out NHC Catalysts & Ligands developed in our lab in collaboration with MilliporeSigma!

Welcome to the Szostak Group website.

We are a dynamic synthetic organic chemistry research team engaged in developing new catalysts and reactions using the power of transition metals. In particular, we are interested in:

1) Amide bonds

2) C-H activation

3) Organometallic catalysis

Ph.D. studentship available to start in Fall 2023.

New book edited by Prof. Szostak, Amide Bond Activation: Concepts and Reactions, has been published. Check it out for the latest on activation of amide bonds!

Check out our recent Chem. Rev. on TWISTED AMIDES (Chem. Rev. 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00225). Consider using the powerful manifold of Amide Bond Twisting in your own research!

Recent Catalysts and Ligands

Our study on Pd-NHC-ANILINE complexes developed in our lab has been published (J. Org. Chem. 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.1c02183).

Powerful alternative to Pd-PEPPSI! Easy & modular synthesis. Commercially available from Millipore Sigma: 916161 [(IPr)PdCl2(AN)]; 915165 [Pd(IPr)(3-CF3-AN)Cl2]

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/916161

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/915165

Make sure to check out these complexes in cross-coupling & Pd-catalysis!

: [Pd(IPr)(AN)Cl2]

: [Pd(IPr)(3-CF3-AN)Cl2]

Our study on IPr-#HASH NHC ligands developed in our lab has been published (Chem. Sci. 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1SC02619D). 3 ligands: IPr#, Np#, BIAN-IPr#. Easy & modular synthesis. Commercially available from Millipore Sigma: IPr#HCl, 915653; Np#HCl, 915912; BIAN–IPr#HCl, 916420

www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/915653

www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/915912?context=product

www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/product/aldrich/916420?context=product

Make sure to check out these ligands in transition-metal-catalysis!

: IPr#HCl

: Np#HCl

: BIAN-IPr#HCl

Recent Highlights

Our study on palladium-chloro-dimers [Pd(NHC)(μ-Cl)Cl]2 as the most reactive Pd(II)-NHC precatalysts to date has been published. Make sure to use these catalysts if you are doing cross-coupling chemistry!

Check out our review on Amide Bond Activation: Power of Resonance. Amide activation is easier than one would think! Well-done!!!

Check out our review on BIAN-NHC ligands. Easily accessible class of NHC carbenes for catalysis! Well-done!!!

Check out our review on N-heterocyclic carbene complexes in C-H activation! NHC-metal complexes meet C-H functionalization! Well-done!!!

Recent Awards

Congratulations to Md. Mahbubur Rahman on receiving Taylor-Torre Award for an outstanding PhD thesis in the Chemistry Department at Rutgers-Newark in 2022! Well-done!!! You can read more about Rahman’s research in one of his many papers on amide bonds and NHC catalysis.

Congratulations to Tongliang Zhou on receiving Taylor Award for the best 3rd year student in the Chemistry Department at Rutgers-Newark in 2021! Well-done!!! You can read more about Tongliang’s research in one of his many papers on cross-coupling reactions.

Congratulations to Chengwei Liu on receiving best Ph.D. Dissertation Award at Rutgers-Newark in 2021! Well-done!!! You can read more about Dr. Liu’s research in one of his many papers on decarbonylative C-C activation.

Congratulations to Chengwei Liu on winning the 2020 IPMI Student Award! What an outstanding accomplishment! Chengwei has also been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad. Well-done!!!

Congratulations to Guangrong Meng on receiving best Ph.D. Dissertation Award at Rutgers-Newark in 2020! Well-done!!! You can read more about Dr. Meng’s research in one of his many papers on amide N-C activation.

Congratulations to Daniel Pyle, an undergraduate student in our lab, who has been accepted to prestigious Ph.D. programs at Yale University, University of California-Berkeley, Columbia University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University. Well-done!!! You can read more about Daniel’s research in the Special Issue on Amide Bond Activation.