Luis Oro, Professor Emeritus, University of Zaragoza, Spain, has been honored by the Spanisch Royal Academy of Sciences (Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales de España) with the Echegaray Medal (La Medalla Echegaray), Spain’s oldest scientific award, in recognition of his distinguished research career. The award ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 28 at 18:00.
The Echegaray Medal
The Echegaray Medal was established in 1905 at the initiative of neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934). The Royal Academy of Sciences grants this medal every two years to a researcher with an outstanding trajectory. Santiago Ramón y Cajal and Italian scientist Camillo Golgi received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system.”
Ramón y Cajal was the first Spaniard to win a scientific Nobel Prize, and his pioneering investigations into the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience. The Echegaray Medal was first awarded in 1907 to José Echegaray (1833–1916), a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician, statesman, and one of the leading Spanish dramatists of the late 19th century. He was also the recipient of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature.
More than a century later, in 2016, Margarita Salas became the first and, so far, the only woman to receive the medal. Other notable recipients include Svante Arrhenius (1919), Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1922), Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1925), and Ernest Rutherford (1931).
The 2024 Echegaray Medal Recipient Luis Oro
The 2024 Echegaray Medal recognizes Professor Luis Oro for his outstanding scientific contributions to the international research community in the fields of organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis, as well as his role in advancing science in Spain—both through his research group’s achievements and his leadership in key positions within the national science and technology system.
As an emeritus professor, Luis Oro remains actively involved in various national and international scientific councils and committees. “My scientific life is more behind me than ahead, but I continue to be moderately active in research and now have more time for my sporting activities, such as rock climbing and skiing,” he told ChemistryViews.
Luis A. Oro studied chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, where he completed his Ph.D. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, UK. After holding academic positions at the universities of Zaragoza, Complutense of Madrid, and Santander, he returned to the University of Zaragoza in 1982 as a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry.
He has also been an invited visiting professor at several foreign universities. Luis Oro has served as Director General for Scientific and Technical Research at Spain’s Ministry of Education and Science, Secretary General of the National Plan for Scientific Research and Technological Development, President of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) from 2001 to 2005, and President of EuChemS from 2008 to 2011.
He has made important contributions to uniting European chemical societies under what is now Chemistry Europe (formerly ChemPubSoc Europe), of which he is an Honorary Fellow. He served as Chemistry Europe’s representative for the RSEQ from its inception until 2021.
Among many other honors, Luis Oro has received the Solvay Prize in 1989, the Sabatier-Catalan Prize in 1997, the Research Prize and Medal of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) in 2007, the EuChemS Award for Service in 2014, and the Lord Lewis Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in 2018.
Selected Publications
- Rhodium-catalyzed formation of silylcarbamates from the reaction of secondary amines with CO2 and hydrosilanes,
Jefferson Guzmán, Adrián Torguet, Pilar García-Orduña, Fernando J. Lahoz, Luis A. Oro, Francisco J. Fernández-Alvarez,
J. Organomet. Chem. 2019, 897, 50–56.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2019.06.010 - Hydride–Rhodium(III)-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalyst for Tandem Alkylation/Alkenylation via C–H Activation,
Ramón Azpíroz, Andrea Di Giuseppe, Asier Urriolabeitia, Vincenzo Passarelli, Victor Polo, Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente, Luis A. Oro, Ricardo Castarlenas,
ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 9372–9386.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.9b01233 - Ir-catalyzed selective reduction of CO2 to the methoxy or formate level with HSiMe(OSiMe3)2,
Jefferson Guzmán, Pilar García-Orduña, Víctor Polo, Fernando J. Lahoz, Luis A. Oro, Francisco J. Fernández-Alvarez,
Catal. Sci. Technol. 2019, 9, 2858–2867.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cy02353k - Homogeneous Catalytic Reduction of CO2 with Silicon‐Hydrides, State of the Art,
Francisco J. Fernández‐Alvarez, Luis A. Oro,
ChemCatChem 2018, 10, 4783–4796.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201800699 - Homogeneous catalytic reduction of CO2 with hydrosilanes,
Francisco J. Fernández-Alvarez, Abdullah M. Aitani, Luis A. Oro,
Catal. Sci. Technol. 2014, 4, 611–624.
https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cy00948c - Effective Fixation of CO2 by Iridium-Catalyzed Hydrosilylation,
Ralte Lalrempuia, Manuel Iglesias, Victor Polo, Pablo J. Sanz Miguel, Francisco J. Fernández-Alvarez, Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente, Luis A. Oro,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 12824–12827.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201206165 - Ligand-Controlled Regioselectivity in the Hydrothiolation of Alkynes by Rhodium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysts,
Andrea Di Giuseppe, Ricardo Castarlenas, Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente, Marcello Crucianelli, Victor Polo, Rodrigo Sancho, Fernando J. Lahoz, Luis A. Oro,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 8171–8183.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ja300396h - Iridium Complexes in Organic Synthesis,
Luis A. Oro, Carmen Claver (eds.),
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2009.
DOI: 10.1002/9783527623075 - Rhodium(I) Complexes with Hemilabile N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Efficient Alkyne Hydrosilylation Catalysts,
M. Victoria Jiménez, Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente, M. Isabel Bartolomé, Verena Gierz, Fernando J. Lahoz, Luis A. Oro,
Organometallics 2008, 27, 224–234.
https://doi.org/10.1021/om700728a - Metal Clusters in Chemistry,
P. Braunstein, L. A. Oro, P. R. Raithby (eds.),
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 1999.
DOI: 10.1002/9783527618316
Also of Interest
- ChemPubSoc Europe Fellows Program,
Eva E. Wille,
ChemistryViews 2015.
A Unique Experiment – A Unique Success: European Chemical Societies Instigate Honors Program - Interview: L. Oro: EuCheMS Past-President,
Vera Köster, Luis Oro,
ChemistryViews 2012.
10.1002/chemv.201200008
Luis A. Oro talks about EuCheMS’ role in European science policy, his Presidency and his research - In Honour of the 70th Birthday of Professor Luis A. Oro,
Fernando J. Lahoz, Jesús J. Pérez-Torrente,
ChemCatChem 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201505050
