Professor Emeritus Vincenzo Balzani, University of Bologna, Italy, has been awarded the Grand Prix 2016 de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie. The award was presented during a ceremony at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France, on February 22, 2017.
The prize honors “original work in chemistry, of benefit to mankind, society, or nature” and comprises 35,000 EUR and a silver medal. Balzani is recognized for his contribution to photochemistry, supramolecular chemistry, nanotechnology, and solar energy.
Vincenzo Balzani studied chemistry at the University of Bologna, Italy. He became Assistant Professor there in 1963 and Assistant Professor at the University of Ferrara, Italy, in 1968. He returned to Bologna as Associate Professor in 1969 and became Full Professor of Chemistry in 1973. From 1977 to 1988, he was the Director of the Photochemistry and Radiation Chemistry Institute of the National Research Council, Washington, D.C., USA. He remained at the University of Bologna until his retirement in 2010.
Balzani is an Honorary Member of the Editorial Board of Chemistry – A European Journal. Among other honors, he has received the Gold Medal “S. Cannizzaro” from the Società Chimica Italiana (SCI, Italian Chemical Society) in 1988, the Prix Franco-Italien from the Société Chimique de France (SCF, French Chemical Society) in 2003, and the Quilico Gold Medal from the Organic Division of the SCI in 2008.
His research interests cover a wide range of topics: photochemistry, photophysics, supramolecular chemistry, electron-transfer reactions, molecular-level devices and machines, nanotechnology, and photochemical solar-energy conversion.
Selected Publications
- Photochemistry and Photophysics: Concepts, Research, Applications,
Vincenzo Balzani, Paola Ceroni, Alberto Juris,
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2014.
ISBN: 978-3-527-33479-7 - Powering Planet Earth: Energy Solutions for the Future,
Nicola Armaroli, Vincenzo Balzani, Nick Serpone (Translator),
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2013.
ISBN: 978-3-527-33409-4 - Energy for a Sustainable World: From the Oil Age to a Sun-Powered Future,
Vincenzo Balzani, Nicola Armaroli,
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2011.
ISBN: 978-3-527-32540-5 - Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy,
Vincenzo Balzani, Alberto Credi, Margherita Venturi,
ChemSusChem 2008, 1, 26–58.
DOI: 10.1002/cssc.200700087 - The Future of Energy Supply: Challenges and Opportunities,
Nicola Armaroli, Vincenzo Balzani,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 52–66.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.200602373 - A Molecular Elevator,
Jovica D. Badjić, Vincenzo Balzani, Alberto Credi, Serena Silvi, J. Fraser Stoddart,
Science 2004, 303, 1845–1849.
DOI: 10.1126/science.1094791 - Logic Operations at the Molecular Level. An XOR Gate Based on a Molecular Machine,
Alberto Credi, Vincenzo Balzani, Steven J. Langford, J. Fraser Stoddart,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 2679–2681.
DOI: 10.1021/ja963572l - Molecular meccano. 1. [2]Rotaxanes and a [2]catenane made to order,
Pier Lucio Anelli, Peter R. Ashton, Roberto Ballardini, Vincenzo Balzani, Milagros Delgado, Maria Teresa Gandolfi, Timothy T. Goodnow, Angel E. Kaifer, Douglas Philp,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 193–218.
DOI: 10.1021/ja00027a027
Also of Interest
- Think What Nobody Has Thought,
Martin Preuss,
ChemViews Mag. 2014.
DOI: 10.1002/chemv.201400067
V. Balzani, one of the most cited chemists worldwide, talks about the responsibility of scientists to share their knowledge, and his secrets of success
