John F. Hartwig
My group's research focuses on the discovery and understanding of new reactions catalyzed by transition metal complexes. We study the selective catalytic functionalization of alkanes, methods to form arylamines and aryl ethers from aryl halides or sulfonates, a method for the direct conversion of carbonyl compounds to α-aryl carbonyl derivatives, systems for the catalytic hydroaminations of alkenes, vinylarenes and dienes, and enantioselective and site-selective catalysts for the regio and enantioselective amination of allylic carbonates, catalytic processes for the depolymerization of lignin, and reactions mediated by multiple catalysts. As we develop these catalytic processes, we conduct detailed mechanistic experiments to reveal the elementary reactions that constitute the overall catalytic cycle.
In the News
Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives
Road to chiral alkylamines paved with iridium
Scientists finally crack nature’s most common chemical bond
Researchers awarded Wolf Prizes in agriculture, chemistry
Professor John Hartwig awarded the 2019 Wolf Prize in Chemistry
Four UC Berkeley scientists elected to National Academy of Sciences
Four University of California, Berkeley, faculty members – physicists John Clarke and Bernard Sadoulet, chemist John Hartwig and ecologist Mary Power – have been elected members or foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences, bringing UC Berkeley’s total NAS membership to 141.