Prof. Dr. Carsten Strohmann

Congratulations to Ms. Franziska Klotz for receiving a doctoral fellowship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes!

Ms. Klotz is conducting her doctoral research in the field of silicon chemistry and is thus building on the results of her master's thesis. The dissertation deals with the investigation of the mechanism for the formation of condensation-stable silanols and their functionalization with chiral amino building blocks. For a cooperation project, she spent several months at the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain at the beginning of her doctorate.

The Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes is one of the Federal Ministry of Education & Research's Begabtenförderungswerke (gifted and talented organization) and supports both talented students and doctoral candidates. The doctoral funding supports high-performing, socially committed and motivated young researchers.

This year, the International Symposium on Ionic Polymerization took place in Mainz for the fifteenth time. The conference, which has a long-standing tradition dating back to 1995, discusses the latest research results in the field of ionic polymerization (anionic polymerization, cationic polymerization, ionic ring-opening polymerization) every two years.

This year, Annika Schmidt from our research group was able to participate with a poster contribution and presented her research results on the first isolation of the intermediates of anionic styrene polymerization. In this poster, she combined the approach of molecular organometallic chemistry with the application to polymer chemistry and was awarded a poster prize sponsored by RSC Polymer Chemistry.

From 16^th to 18^th september 2022, the GDCh Conference on Inorganic Chemistry of the Wöhler-Vereinigung und Festkörperchemie & Materialforschung took place in Munich. From our research group the doctoral students Franziska Klotz, Tristan Mairath and Jan Frederick Wappelhorst, as well as our former Bachelor student Kai Schäper and our former Master student Tamara Binnenbrinkmann took part. They all presented and discussed their research results in a total of 5 poster contributions and were thus able to provide interesting insights into the various research of our group. These included mechanistic insights into anionic polymerization, the synthesis of si-chiral silanols and the reactivity and selectivity of reactions with lithium alkyls.

In our new publication in ACS Omega, we report on previously unknown halogen bonds with simple, prototypical and versatile ethers commonly used as solvents. Depending on the stoichiometry, different structural motifs were obtained that support the importance for structural designs and synthetic applications.

Tristan Mairath, Jan Frederick Wappelhorst, Franziska Klotz, Mara Schöler, Thokozire Sweetland and Michael Nuss were able to present their research in the form of poster contributions and used the poster sessions to exchange ideas with international scientists.
Paul Erik Schneider and Annika Schmidt enriched the program of the conference with two oral presentations. While Paul presented his current results on “Planar chiral ferrocenes as key compounds for asymmetrically controlled processes”, Annika gave deeper “Insights in the solvent-dependent mechanism of anionic polymerizations: studies on the structure and reactivity of first carbolithiation intermediates”.

The 20^th International Symposium on Silicon Chemistry (https://isos20-hiroshima.jp/) took place in Hiroshima from May 12^th to 17^th. This distinguished conference brings together renowned scientists from all over the word to discuss the latest developments in silicon chemistry. Our research group was represented by Franziska Klotz and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff.

Mr. Kirchhoff gave a lecture on selective alkoxyorganosilane syntheses and their transformations, while Ms. Klotz presented a poster on Si-chiral condensation-stable silanols and siloxides.

In our latest publication in Angewandte Chemie (Hot Paper), we present a simple approach to chiral phosphines via crystallization-induced dynamic resolution (CIDR). This was only possible by an intensive investigation of the underlying processes. More details on the article can be found on the following page or in the original publication:

Enantioselective Synthesis of Phosphine Boranes via Crystallization-Induced Dynamic Resolution of Lithiated Intermediate by Understanding the Underlying Epimerization Process Y. M. Kuzu, A. Schmidt, C. Strohmann* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202319665.

Paul Erik Schneider, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff and Annika Schmidt from our group took part in this year's spring symposium of the Young Chemists Forum (JCF), which took place from March 13-16, 2024 in Ulm. Paul and Jan-Lukas had the opportunity to present their latest research results on enantioselective synthesis of planar-chiral ferrocenes and targeted substitution reactions at silicon centers in a poster contribution, while Annika was given the chance to show the conference participants an insight into her research on the mechanism of anionic polymerizations in an oral presentation. Besides, Jan-Lukas presented his work on advertising materials and sponsoring of his role in the national board of the JCF.

At this year's 12th JungChemiker Symposium Ruhr, Ms. Annika Schmidt was awarded a prize for her oral presentation and Ms. Franziska Klotz for her poster presentation. On her poster "Synthesis and Investigations of Si-chiral Aminosilanols and Siloxides" Franziska was able to present novel, condensation-stable silanols and illustrate their application as chiral ligands for transition metals. Annika presented her latest results on the investigation of the mechanism of anionic polymerization of styrene and myrcene, as well as the isolation of the first initiation products in her talk entitled "Insights into the mechanism of anionic styrene polymerization".

We would like to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie for their financial support.

On February 29, 2024, the 12th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr was held at the MPI in Mülheim under the motto "Chemistry for a green future". The conference, which is sponsored by the GDCh, gives young chemists from the Ruhr region the opportunity to exchange research results and socialise. Franziska Klotz, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Annika Schmidt, Tobias Schrimpf and Paul Erik Schneider from our working group presented a total of 4 posters and an oral presentation and thus were able to provide interesting insights into the various topics of our research group.

We congratulate Mr Paul Erik Schneider on receiving the Kekulé fellowship from the Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie.

After his research stay with a focus on environmental analytics on Svalbard in Norway, Mr Schneider completed his Master's degree in Chemistry in 2023 with excellent grades. He completed this in the standard period of study with a master's thesis on the efficient synthesis of central planar chiral key building blocks of enantiomerically pure ferrocene-based ligands.

The Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie supports doctoral students in chemistry or chemistry-related subjects with outstanding academic achievements and degrees within the standard period of study in excellent working groups. We would like to thank the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie for its generous funding and support and are delighted that Mr Schneider was able to convince the jury in the selection process.

At this year's 17. Tag der Chemie, Mr. Paul Erik Schneider was awarded a poster prize for his poster presentation entitled "Accessing Enantiopure Disubstituted Ferrocenes Aldehydes and Halogene Bond Assisted Purification of Their Transformation Products".

Mr. Schneider presented a poster in the form of a flash talk and a poster session on his current research results on efficient access to enantiomerically pure substituted ferrocene aldehydes and their transformation products to scientists in chemistry and chemical biology.

Enantiomerically pure substituted ferrocenaldehydes are important building blocks for both asymmetric organocatalysts and chiral ligands in asymmetric transition metal catalysis. The latter are of industrial significance.

His work is supported by a Kekulé fellowship from the Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie.

To conclude the winter semester 2023/24, the Day of Chemistry took place again on 9 February 2024. Following the academic day programme with lectures, poster flash talks and a poster session, the graduates from the faculty were honoured for their achievements.

Julius Hättasch, Simon Knüver and Thokozire Sweetland from our working group successfully completed their Bachelor's degree programmes. Franziska Klotz, Paul Erik Schneider, Christoph Schwab and Jan-Frederick Wappelhorst successfully completed their Master's degrees, with Mr. Schneider and Mr. Schwab being honoured for their outstanding achievements.

Mit dem Bayer Promotions­preis werden Absolventen und Absolventinnen für exzellente Forschungsarbeiten im Bereich der Chemie sowie der Chemischen Biologie während ihres Promotionsstudiums durch die Fakultät CCB geehrt. Dabei entscheidet eine Jury unter Berücksichtigung weiterer Kriterien wie Studiendauer, Prüfungsnoten und Publikationstätigkeit unter den vorgeschlagenen Kandidaten und Kandi­datinnen. Die Bayer AG übernahm in diesem Jahr erstmalig das Sponsering für diese Auszeichnung und das darin enthaltene Preisgeld von 500 €. Herr Dr. Johannes Kleinheider wurde die Auszeichnung für seine Promotion mit dem Titel "Über die Reaktivität gezielt ausgebildeter Lithiumalkylaggregate - Von "frustrierten" Aggregaten zum Lithiumhydrid-Transfer" verliehen.

After 35 years, the search for the crystal structure of tert-butyllithium with tetrahydrofuran was successfully completed. Contrary to expectations, two different aggregates could be determined in a pentane/THF environment depending on the amount of THF used. These differ significantly in their reactivity. This opens up a simple way for synthetic chemists to adjust the reactivity of t-BuLi depending on the application. For more information, see the following page or the original publication.

Tuning Reactivities of tert-Butyllithium by the Addition of Stoichiometric Amounts of Tetrahydrofuran
J. Kleinheider, T. Schrimpf, R. Scheel, T. Mairath, A. Hermann, K. Knepper, C. Strohmann*
Chem. Eur. J. 2024, 30, e202304226.

Congratulations to Mr. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff for receiving a doctoral fellowship of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Mr. Kirchhoff conducts research in the field of silicon chemistry on the synthesis and transformation of Si–N,O-functionalized silanes, focusing on mechanistic aspects at the silicon center

Our research group was able to observe a lithium hydride transfer reaction of secondary and tertiary lithium alkyls to hexamethylacetone by targeted aggregate formation. By combining in situ FTIR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations, the reaction mechanism of a simultaneous β-hydride elimination and lithium hydride addition at unusually low temperature could be elucidated. More information on the article can be found on the following page or in the original publication:

Alkyllithium Reagents as a Hidden Source of Lithium Hydride
J. Kleinheider, C. Schwab, C. Strohmann*
Organometallics 2023, 42, 3173–3177.

In the latest publication of our group, temperature-dependent inversion processes in square-planar palladium(II) chloride complexes formed by silyl-substituted thioether ligands were investigated in solution by NMR spectroscopy. Further information can be found on the following page or in the original publication:

Synthesis of Organosilicon-Based Thioether Ligand Class Showing Defined S-Stereogenic Coordination in Crystalline Palladium(II) Complexes
P. E. Schneider, J. Wattenberg, J. F. Wappelhorst, M. Knorr, C. Strohmann*
Z. Allg. Anorg. Chem. 2023, 649, e202300185.

At this year's Bruker AXS Users Meeting in Karlsruhe on October 10^th-11^th, Paul Erik Schneider and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff from our research group had the chance to learn about Bruker's latest techniques for X-ray diffraction and its use in X-ray structure analysis. According to the motto "Advanced Applications", the staff presented their latest equipment including updated software on the first day and demonstrated the new possibilities for structure investigations of molecules up to proteins. In the many workshops followed, the participants had the opportunity to be introduced to this new equipment and software and to try out what they had learned themselves. On the second day, the focus was on many interesting presentations by scientists as well as companies concerning various X-ray diffraction experiments for different chemical questions.

For the second time the Fachgruppentag Sustainable Chemistry was organized together by the GDCh-Division Group Sustainable Chemistry and the JCF's (Young Chemists Network) Team Sustainability. This year, all participants were invited to BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen. In addition to an exciting lecture held by Dr. Carla Seidel, member of the GDCh Board of Directors, Prof. Dr. Sonja Herres-Pawlis (RWTH Aachen) and Dr. Dagmar Pascale Kunsmann-Keitel (BASF) from the Division Board as well as junior research group leader Dr. Thomas Seidensticker (TU Dortmund, BCI) presented on sustainable synthesis and degradation techniques of polymers.

In addition, all guests at the conference were able to take part in a tour of BASF's approximately 10 km2 site, during which the latest projects in the field of digitalization and machine learning were presented. Afterwards, smaller groups had the opportunity to visit the production facilities of new sodium-sulfur accumulators or to participate in a laboratory tour of the department of biodegradable plastics.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Sustainable Chemistry Division Board, the Team Sustainability of the JCF, and BASF for that successful day including a diverse program. We are already looking forward to next year's event.

From September 04-06, 2023, this year's GDCh Science Forum Chemistry (WiFo) took place in Leipzig. Students and PhD students Julius Hättasch, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Franziska Klotz, Tristan Mairath, Michael Nuss, Arnold Ressel, Robin Risken, Annika Schmidt, Paul-Erik Schneider, Mara Schöler, Tobias Schrimpf, Thokozire Sweetland and Jan Frederick Wappelhorst from our working group participated. They all presented and discussed their research results on a total of 13 scientific poster contributions. Thus, all students who have done a thesis (bachelor or master) in our working group during the last year were again able to present their obtained results.

Franziska Klotz and Annika Schmidt from our working group attended this year's Gordon Research Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry. Franziska was able to present her bachelor’s research results in a talk in front of an audience of doctorates and PostDocs, while Annika was supported with one of three german-wide travel grants of the GDCh in the amount of 1000€.

In addition, a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) was held in advance of the conference, which is especially aimed at young scientists. In this context, Franziska Klotz was able to give a talk entitled "Transformation and Crystallization of Stereogenic Silicon Centers".

In a new publication of our group the effects of an isolated halogen bond on the nucleophile used were investigated experimentally. Further information can be found on the following page or in the original publication:

Gauging the Strength of the Molecular Halogen Bond via Experimental Electron Density and Spectroscopy
F. Otte, J. Kleinheider, B. Grabe, W. Hiller, F. Busse, R. Wang, N. M. Kreienborg, C. Merten*, U. Englert*, C. Strohmann*
ACS Omega 2023, 8, 21531-21539.

To conclude the winter semester 2022/23, the 16. Tag der Chemie took place on March 31^th 2023 to honor the graduates from the faculty for their achievements. From our working group Robin Risken, Michael Nuss, Tristan Mairath and Arnold Ressel could successfully complete their bachelor studies and Mr. Ressel was also honored for his outstanding degree.

In addition to the bachelor degrees, Ms. Rana Seymen successfully completed her PhD in 2022. Annika Schmidt was able to give an overview of her current research on anionic polymerization with a short talk and a poster contribution at this day. Rebecca Scheel also presented her research results on microwave-based deprotonation reactions with lithium alkyls in a short talk.

We congratulate all graduates and wish them good luck for their future.

A new publication of the AK Strohmann together with the NMR team of the faculty CCB in the journal Angewandte Chemie. More details about the article on the following page or in the original publication:

Comprehensive Study of the Enhanced Reactivity of Turbo-Gignard-Reagents
A. Hermann, R. Seymen, L. Brieger, J. Kleinheider, B. Grabe, W. Hiller, C. Strohmann*
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202302489.

At this year's 11^th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr, Rebecca Scheel was awarded a lecture prize for her oral presentation entitled "The Fusion of tert-Butyllithium and Microwave Radiation: Deprotonation Reactions under High Temperatures". She presented her research results on microwave-based deprotonation with lithium alkyls. The use of lithium alkyls under microwave radiation can provide access to the metalation of inert substrates, to multiple metalations as well as to the optimization of already existing deprotonation reactions.
We thank the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft for the financial support.

This "Frühjahrssymposium" (Spring Symposium) of the Young Chemists Network (JCF) took place according to the motto Chemistry Is Coming Home from 21 - 24 March 2023 at the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff from our working group had the opportunity to present his research on targeted substitution processes on functionalized silanes in a poster contribution. In addition to two poster sessions, young students and PhD students respectively also had the chance to share their research to a broad audience in oral presentations. A highlight of the conference was the opening lecture held by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. Ben List, which addressed new possibilities for CO₂ conversion.

This year's Chemiedozententagung took place from March, 13^th – 15^th, 2023 at the TU Dresden. Franziska Klotz, Annika Schmidt and Prof. Dr. Carsten Strohmann from our working group traveled together to Dresden to the event, which was prepared and organized by the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the Association of German University Professors (ADUC).
The Chemiedozententagung (CDT) is a conference that brings together young academics as well as professors from all fields of chemistry. It is one of the best opportunities to get to know the current chemistry research landscape in Germany.

On March 2^nd, 2023, the 11^th Young Chemists Symposium Ruhr took place at TU Dortmund University under the motto "Creating Sustainability". The conference, which is sponsored by the GDCh, gives young chemists from the Ruhr area the opportunity to exchange research results and make new contacts. Johannes Kleinheider, Franziska Klotz, Anna Krupp, Tristan Mairath, Rebecca Scheel, Annika Schmidt, Tobias Schrimpf, Paul Erik Schneider, Christoph Schwab, Jan Frederick Wappelhorst and Jonathan Wattenberg were able to present their latest results of research in the form of 10 poster contributions as well as 2 oral presentations and to provide interesting insights into the diverse topics of the research group. In addition to numerous oral presentations and also poster sessions, there were also professional extern workshops on sustainability and resource-conserving chemistry, as well as networking opportunities with representatives of industry partners, such as BASF, Altana and Evonik.

Congratulations to Ms. Annika Schmidt for receiving the Kekulé Scholarship of the Stiftung Stipendien-Fonds des Verbandes der Chemischen Industrie. After shortening the duration of her master's degree in chemistry to three semesters, Ms. Schmidt graduated in March 2022 with her master's thesis on initiators for anionic polymerizations and mechanistic studies on the first carbometallation step. After a six-month industrial internship, she will now begin her doctoral studies, which will focus on functionalized organolithium initiators for the targeted incorporation of multiple functionalities in anionic polymerizations and the elucidation of the mechanism of the individual steps and active structures of anionic polymerization.

A Silicon-Stereogenic Silanol – ¹⁸O-Isotope Labeling and Stereogenic Probe Reveals Hidden Stereospecific Water Exchange Reaction:
F. Langenohl, J. Rösler, S. Zühlke, J.-L. Kirchhoff, C. Strohmann,
Chem. Eur. J. 2023, 29, e202202935.

We congratulate Ms. Annika Schmidt for the best of the year award of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology 2022. Every year, the best graduates of each of the sixteen faculties of the TU Dortmund University are honored during the annual academic celebration.

Ms. Annika Schmidt excellently completed her master's degree in a shortened period of study after three semesters with her master's thesis on "Initiators for anionic polymerizations: Mechanistic studies on the first carbometallation step". Currently, she is working on functionalized organolithium initiators and elucidating the mechanism of the individual substeps of anionic polymerization.

Selective monosubstitution on a trichlorosilane with highly reactive organolithium compounds in a microflow reactor:
M. Achternbosch, L. Zibula, A. Schmidt, W. Krieger, N. Kockmann, C. Strohmann,
J. Flow Chem. 2023, 13, 9-12.

Prof. Dr. Viktoria Däschlein-Gessner (Ruhr-University of Bochum), former PhD student of our group, receives this year's Klung Wilhelmy Science Award in Chemistry. This prize is awarded every year, alternately in the fields of chemistry and physics, and honors particularly outstanding work in scientific research. The prize is awarded under the patronage of the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Mrs. Bettina Stark-Watzinger, and with a prize money of 50,000 euros is one of the most highly endowed science prizes in Germany. Five of the former laureates were awarded the Nobel Prize later on in their careers.

From 26^th to 28^th september 2022, the 21^th inorganic chemistry congress of the Wöhler-Vereinigung und Festkörperchemie & Materialforschung took place in Marburg. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Johannes Kleinheider, Franziska D. Klotz, Anna Krupp, Tristan Mairath, Michael Nuss, Arnold Ressel, Robin Risken, Rebecca Scheel, Paul Erik Schneider, Christoph Schwab, Jan Frederick Wappelhorst and Jonathan Wattenberg were able to present their latest results of research in the form of 13 poster contributions and to provide interesting insights into the diverse topics of the working group.

Towards Substrate-Reagent Interaction of Lochmann-Schlosser Bases in THF: Bridging THF Hides Potential Reaction Site of a Chiral Superbase:
L. Brieger, T. Schrimpf, R. Scheel, C. Unkelbach, C. Strohmann,
Chem. Eur. J. 2022, 28, e202202660.

From 28^th August to 1^st September 2022, the 8^th EuChemS Chemistry Congress took place in Lisbon/Portugal under the theme "Chemistry - the Central Science". Anna Krupp, Annika Schmidt, Rebecca Scheel, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Tobias Schrimpf and Jonathan Wattenberg were able to present their latest research results in the form of poster contributions and Jan Lukas Kirchhoff was also able to present a flash presentation and thus provide a diverse insight into the various topics of the working group.

At this year's conference 2^nd Sustainability Session: Circular Plastics in Frankfurt, sustainable research topics, especially the achievement and implementation of a circular economy for plastics, were focused.

Annika Schmidt and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff from our group presented their research results on the mechanism of the initiation step of anionic polymerization regarding sustainable plastics as well as on novel sustainable microwave-based syntheses for the functionalization of organo-silanes. In this context, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff was awarded for a poster prize, which was granted by the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3).

Johannes Kleinheider, a doctoral student in the Strohmann Working Group, was one of 600 international students selected to attend this year's Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau. Around 30 Nobel Laureates in the categories of chemistry, medicine and physics were on hand this year to exchange ideas with young scientists in chemistry and chemistry-related research fields. Unfortunately, this event was not spared from Corona either, resulting in a mix of online and face-to-face events, but this did not detract from the scope of this event.

Mr. Kleinheider’s dissertation deals with the control of lithium alkyl reactions. The focus is on understanding the reactivity and structure of organolithium reagents and how these can be influenced or controlled by side reactions or special precautions. In addition to reactivity, the course of reactions via transition-state pre-coordinations or intermediates is followed, as well.

At this year's 15. Tag der Chemie on June 10^th 2022, the best graduates of the past year were once again honored. From our working group, Ms. Annika Schmidt received an award for her outstanding degree in the master's program in chemistry, as well as Mr. Paul-Erik Schneider for his degree in the bachelor's program in chemistry.

In addition, Mr. Andreas Seymen, Yasin Kuzu, Felix Otte, Felix Langenohl, Lukas Brieger, Moritz Achternbosch and Andreas Voß successfully completed their PhD in 2021 and 2022. Jonathan Pöttker, Niklas Sensler, Franziska Klotz, Jan-Frederik Wappelhorst as well as Christoph Schwab also received their Bachelor and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff as well as Tobias Schrimpf their Master Chemistry. In addition, Mr. Timo Schönig successfully completed his apprenticeship.

After a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific meetings can be held in presence again this year. This was also the case for the International Charge Density Meeting 2022  (ICDM-9), which brings together enthusiastic researchers from all over the world every three years. Here, the latest research topics on the investigation of charge densities and electronic bonding situations are presented using latest techniques in theory as well as in experiment.

In March 2022, a conference of the Young Chemist Forum (JungChemikerForum, JCF) was held in presence for the first time after two years.  During the 24^th Spring Symposium 2022 (Frühjahrssymposium, FJS) of the JCF in Hanover, Annika Schmidt and Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff had the opportunity to present their research results in form of poster contributions. Here, on the one hand, an approach for the functionalization of anion-derived polymers, and on the other hand, contributions on new microwave-based synthesis technologies of silanes were presented.

Our recently published work in Chemistry – A European Journal was highlighted in the December issue of Nachrichten aus der Chemie.

We congratulate Mr. Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff on receiving a Kekulé fellowship from the foundation of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie.

THF-solvated Heavy Alkali Metal Benzyl Compounds (Na, Rb, Cs): Defined Deprotonation Reagents for Alkali Metal Mediation Chemistry:
L. Brieger, C. Unkelbach, C. Strohmann,
Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 17780-17784.

At this year's Wissenschaftsforum of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, one of the largest European chemistry meetings, Mr. Andreas Voß was awarded a poster prize by ACS Organic & Inorganic Au for his poster presentation entitled Microwave Technology as Key for the Synthesis of new (Aminomethyl)silanes.

From August 29^th to September 1^st, Lukas Brieger, Jan-Lukas Kirchhoff, Johannes Kleinheider, Franziska Dorothea Klotz, Anna Krupp, Yasin Kuzu, Felix Langenohl, Rebecca Scheel, Annika Schmidt, Paul Erik Schneider, Tobias Schrimpf, Christoph Schwab, Andreas Voß, Jan Frederick Wappelhorst and Jonathan Wattenberg presented a total of two talks and 13 posters at the Wissenschaftsforum (WiFo) of the GDCh. The WiFo is one of the largest and most important chemistry conferences in Europe and, in addition to the exchange among scientists, also provides an opportunity for dialog between research and industry. A particular highlight is the great thematic diversity of the conference presentations and the discussion of socially relevant challenges for research.

At this year's 19^th International Symposium on Silicon Chemistry, Mr. Moritz Achternbosch was awarded a poster prize for his poster presentation entitled Influence Of Lithium Coordinating Additives On The Structure Of Phenyldimethylsilyllithium.

Primary Amine Functionalization of Alkoxysilanes: Synthesis, Selectivity and Mechanistic Insights:
M. Achternbosch, L. Zibula, J.-L. Kirchhoff, J.O. Bauer, C. Strohmann,
Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 11562–11568.

Weak yet Decisive: Molecular Halogen Bond and Competing Weak Interactions of Iodobenzene and Quinuclidine:
F. Otte, J. Kleinheider, W. Hiller, R. Wang, U. Englert, C. Strohmann,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 4133–4137.

When Electrons Step in: Polarizing Effects Explored with Triisobutylaluminum:
A. Seymen, A. Münch, S.A. Orr, R. Herbst-Irmer, R.E. Mulvey, C. Strohmann, D. Stalke,
Inorg. Chem. 2021, 60, 2872–2877.

No less than two recent papers by AK Strohmann were mentioned this year in the journal Nachrichten aus der Chemie in the Trend Report Inorganic Chemistry, which annually summarizes the global highlights of the past year. The work of Andreas Seymen, Ulrike Opper and Andreas Voß on alkali metal-based aminoalkylation reactions published in the journal Angewandte Chemie was highlighted. Only the combination of the metals lithium and potassium leads to highly selective reactions, which are not accessible by both metals individually.

We congratulate Dr. Lena Knauer on the PhD Award 2020 of the TU Dortmund University, which was awarded during the annual academic celebration on December 16^th, 2020. Due to the pandemic, the event took place exclusively digitally for the first time. The award winners from the 16 faculties had the opportunity to present their research results on a website specially set up for this event. A comprehensive presentation package was sent to the award winners by mail, which was donated by the Freunde der Technischen Universität Dortmund e.V.

The Structure-defining Incorporation of Chloride in Methyllithium Dimers
L. Knauer, C. Strohmann,
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 13543-13546.

Insight into the Bonding and Aggregation of Alkyllithiums by Experimental Charge Density Studies and Energy Decomposition Analyses:
A. Münch, L. Knauer, H. Ott, C.P. Sindlinger, R. Herbst-Irmer, C. Strohmann, D. Stalke,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 15897–15906

Aminopotassiation by Mixed Potassium/Lithium Amides: A Synthetic Path to Difficult to Access Phenethylamine Derivates:
A. Seymen, U. Opper, A. Voß, L. Brieger, F. Otte, C. Unkelbach, D. O’Shea, C. Strohmann,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2020, 59, 22500-22504;
Angew. Chem. 2020, 132, 22688-22693.

Influences of Steric Factors on the Reactivity and Structure of Diorganoalkoxysilylamides:
L. Zibula, M. Achternbosch, J. Wattenberg, F. Otte, C. Strohmann,
Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2020, 646, 978-984

We congratulate Lena Knauer on receiving the Evonik PhD Award 2020, which was presented during the 13^th Day of Chemistry on February 7^th, 2020 by Dr. Felix Müller, Vice President of European Research Policy Innovation Networks and Communication, Evonik Industries AG (left) and Prof. Dr. Guido H. Clever (right).

There were awards given to the best graduates from the past year at this year's 13^th Chemistry Day on 9^th February 2020. We congratulate Mr. Johannes Kleinheider for the Faculty Award, which he received due to his outstanding master's degree. Ms. Lena Knauer received the Evonik PhD Award of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Biology for her successfully completed PhD.

Higher Carbon Analogues of 1,4-Dihydropyridines as Potent TGFβ/Smad Inhibitors:
E. R. Barth, D. Längle, F. Wesseler, C. Golz, A. Krupp, D. Schade, C. Strohmann,
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2020, 176-181

Every year, Nachrichten aus der Chemie, the members' journal of the German Chemical Society, highlights the past year in various disciplines. In the "Trend Report Inorganic Chemistry", the paper published by Lena Knauer in Dalton Transactions on the relationship between aggregate size and reactivity of (trimethylsilyl)methyllithium was included. It was again emphasized that the smallest aggregate does not always have the best possible reactivity and that a precise knowledge of the reagent structure is necessary to achieve desired synthetic properties.

We congratulate Dr. Eva Barth on receiving the PhD Award 2019 of the TU Dortmund University. Every year, on the occasion of the birthday of the Technical University of Dortmund, the best PhD theses of the sixteen faculties are honored within the framework of the Academic Annual Celebration. The PhD Award was sponsored by the Freunde der Technischen Universität Dortmund e.V.

We congratulate Andreas Hermann on his acceptance into the CheMento Mentoring Program of the German Chemical Society. In the process, he was selected as one of 30 tandems from the numerous applications. This nationwide mentoring program makes use of the strong network of the GDCh by providing young chemists with experienced mentors. The focus is on supporting the mentee in his personal and professional development, providing him with practical suggestions and food for thought, and giving him guidance in planning his career and starting out on his career.

We would like to thank the GDCh for this opportunity for exchange and dialog.

CheMento - das Mentoring Programm der GDCh

We congratulate Mr. Johannes Kleinheider on receiving the Kekulé fellowship from the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. Mr. Kleinheider investigated the influence of side reactions in the chemistry of lithium alkyls as part of his master's thesis. He completed his studies in March 2019 in a shortened study period and subsequently began his PhD studies. As part of his doctoral thesis, Mr. Kleinheider is working on the use of modern reaction methods and unusual stoichiometries for the targeted formation of intermediates in lithium alkyl reactions.

At the tenth JCS Symposium Ruhr, Rana Seymen was able to convince the jury of her research with her poster contribution Stabilization of sulfur-substituted lithium compounds, for which she was awarded a prize. Andreas Hermann led the audience through his research area with his presentation Metallfree silanolates as activating reagents for silicon-carbon-bond cleaving reactions and also convinced the jury, whereupon he was awarded the best talk award.

We would like to thank the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes for financial support in the form of doctoral scholarships and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

The annual JCS Symposium Ruhr of the various JCFs took place in Essen this year and celebrated a successful anniversary with its tenth staging. The symposium, which is sponsored by the GDCh, aims above all to provide a platform for the exchange of research results and to improve networking among the young scientists of the Ruhr area. To this end, Felix Otte, Felix Langenohl, Jonathan Wattenberg, Johannes Kleinheider, Andreas Voß and Rana Seymen from our group presented their current research results in the form of poster contributions and Andreas Hermann gave a talk. A wide variety of topics from main group chemistry, applications of heteroatom ligands, and theoretical and structure-related studies were presented.

We would like to thank the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the Cusanuswerk as well as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Mercator Research Center Ruhr for their financial support.

Under the motto "Chemistry - the common element", the GDCh Wissenschaftsforum took place in Aachen from September 15^th to 18^th, 2019. New research results were presented through poster contributions by Lukas Brieger, Johannes Kleinheider, Yasin Kuzu, Felix Langenohl, Rebecca Scheel, Jan Philip Schulze, Rana Seymen, Andreas Voß and Jonathan Wattenberg. Their posters addressed a wide variety of issues in lithium organyl chemistry and the chemistry of superbasic alkali metal reagents. Other contributions focused on stereogenic silicon or phosphorus centers and other highlights from silicon chemistry. The Wissenschaftsforum is the largest chemistry congress in the german area.

Lukas Brieger and Rana Seymen presented their latest research results in the form of poster contributions at the International Charge Density Meeting 2019 in Göttingen.

The scientific focus of the meeting was on the determination of experimental electron densities based on high-resolution crystallographic data. The analysis of experimental electron density provides an understanding to the properties of a molecule. Lukas Brieger and Rana Seymen presented their results on metallated molecules.

The Fonds der Chemischen Industrie and the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes are gratefully acknowledged for their support during the PhD studies.

Rana Seymen, Andreas Hermann, and Johannes Kleinheider presented three posters at the first "Tools for Chemical Bonding" workshop in Bremen, Germany, July 14^th-19^th. The goal of the workshop was to combine powerful quantum chemical methods with high-resolution single-crystal x-ray data. The presented methods can be used to analyze both quantum chemical and experimentally obtained electron densities. The electronic structure of a molecule determines its properties. Rana Seymen presented her poster on the stabilization of negative charges in α-position to sulfur, while Andreas Hermann presented the stability of the configuration of silyl anions and Johannes Kleinheider the results of his master’s thesis on reactive lithium alkyls.

We thank the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker as well as the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes for financial support.