Professor Paul Kamer, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, Rostock, Germany, passed away on November 19, 2020. He headed the department “Bioinspired Homo- & Heterogeneous Catalysis” at the institute.
Professor Kamer’s research focused on the development of new catalytic processes. His research interests included, among other aspects of catalysis, the homogeneous catalysis of industrially important reactions, biomimetic catalysis, as well as mechanistic and in-situ studies of catalytic reactions.
Paul C. J. Kamer was born on March 13, 1960, in Hilversum, The Netherlands. He studied chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1987 for work on the enantioselective polymerization of isocyanides catalyzed by homogeneous nickel(II) complexes. From 1988 to 1990, he was a postdoctoral researcher working with Peter B. Dervan at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, USA, and with Jacques H. van Boom at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
From 1990 to 1998, Kamer served as “Universitair docent” (equivalent of Lecturer) at the University of Amsterdam. He was promoted to “Universitair hoofddocent” (equivalent of Reader) in 1998 and became Professor of Homogeneous Catalysis at the University of Amsterdam in 2005. From 2005 to 2017, he was Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews, UK, and from 2017 on, he served as Head of the department “Bioinspired Homo- & Heterogeneous Catalysis” at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis.
Among other honors, Professor Kamer received an EU Marie Curie Excellence Grant in 2004 and a Lectureship Award “International Master Catalysis, Molecules, and Green Chemistry” from the University of Rennes, France, in 2018. He had served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Amsterdam from 2005 to 2010, at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona, Spain, in 2009, at Caltech in 2010, and at the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, in 2012.
Selected Publications
- Copper‐Catalyzed Carbonylative Hydroamidation of Styrenes to Branched Amides,
Yang Yuan, Fu‐Peng Wu, Claas Schünemann, Jens Holz, Paul C. J. Kamer, Xiao‐Feng Wu,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202010509 - An Introduction to Model Compounds of Lignin Linking Motifs; Synthesis and Selection Considerations for Reactivity Studies,
Ciaran W. Lahive, Paul C. J. Kamer, Christopher S. Lancefield, Peter J. Deuss,
ChemSusChem 2020, 13, 4238–4265.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202000989 - Contemporary Catalysis: Science, Technology, and Applications,
Paul C. J. Kamer, Dieter Vogt, Joris Thybaut (Eds.),
Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017.
ISBN: 9781849739900 - Advanced Model Compounds for Understanding Acid-Catalyzed Lignin Depolymerization: Identification of Renewable Aromatics and a Lignin-Derived Solvent,
Ciaran W. Lahive, Peter J. Deuss, Christopher S. Lancefield, Zhuohua Sun, David B. Cordes, Claire M. Young, Fanny Tran, Alexandra M. Z. Slawin, Johannes G. de Vries, Paul C. J. Kamer, Nicholas J. Westwood, Katalin Barta,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 8900–8911.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6b04144 - Phosphorus(III) Ligands in Homogeneous Catalysis: Design and Synthesis,
P. C. J. Kamer, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen (Eds.),
Wiley, 2012.
ISBN: 9780470666272 - Bioinspired Catalyst Design and Artificial Metalloenzymes,
Peter J. Deuss, René den Heeten, Wouter Laan, Paul C. J. Kamer,
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 4680–4698.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201003646 - Phosphite-Containing Ligands for Asymmetric Catalysis,
Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen, Paul C. J. Kamer, Carmen Claver, Oscar Pàmies, Montserrat Diéguez,
Chem. Rev. 2011, 111, 2077–2118.
https://doi.org/10.1021/cr1002497 - Highly Selective Hydroaminomethylation of Internal Alkenes To Give Linear Amines,
Moballigh Ahmed, Raymond P. J. Bronger, Ralf Jackstell, Paul C. J. Kamer, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen, Matthias Beller,
Chem. Eur. J. 2006, 12, 8979–8988.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.200600702
