Nobel laureate gives Siegfried Hünig Lecture 2026
03/30/2026Professor Benjamin List from the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung is a particularly high profile speaker for this year's Siegfried Hünig Lecture on 7 May 2026.
In 2021, Benjamin List received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis", together with David MacMillan. Their pioneering work on the use of simple organic molecules as catalysts established organocatalysis as a particularly sustainable and cost-effective alternative to the widespread use of metal-containing catalysts or enzymes in organic synthesis.
Nature as a model
Inspired by the mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis processes in nature, Benjamin List made the seminal discovery in 2000 that the amino acid proline, which has a much simpler structure than enzymes, can be used as a catalyst for asymmetric intermolecular aldol reactions. He subsequently established enamine catalysis as a fundamental concept and expanded it in many ways, opening up efficient new approaches to fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
For some years now, his research group has also been working on photocatalytic splitting of CO2 into C and O2 as a way to decarbonize the atmosphere. Once again, nature serves as inspiration, namely the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen through light-driven photosynthesis.
The Siegfried Hünig Lecture
The Siegfried Hünig Lecture was established in 2011 to mark the 90th birthday of Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Siegfried Hünig. As part of this named lecture, an internationally renowned chemist is invited to give a lecture in Würzburg once a year. For the Siegfried Hünig Lecture 2026, which will take place on 7 May 2026 at 4:30 pm in Lecture Hall B of the Central Chemistry Building, Prof. List chose the title: "Catalysis for our World".
Weblinks
Homepage of the List working group at the MPI für Kohlenforschung
