Antrittsvorlesung von Prof. Dr. Christopher J. Teskey 12. März 2026 | 16:00 Uhr - 18:00 Uhr

Antrittsvorlesung „Inventing the Catalytic Reactions of the Future“

Synthetic organic chemistry has shaped the modern world in profound – but often unseen – ways. The molecules we design and build underpin advances across society: they protect crops and secure our food supply, enhance the materials in the clothes we wear, and form the basis of life-saving pharmaceuticals. Yet despite this remarkable impact, we have explored only a minute fraction of the vast “chemical space” of possible organic molecules. Countless structures with transformative potential remain undiscovered and unmade. Unlocking this space requires creativity in molecular design and innovative reactivity concepts.

Methods that are milder, more selective, and energy-efficient will allow access to previously unreachable molecular architectures while remaining compatible with the structural complexity of biological systems. Such advances are essential for accelerating discovery in the life sciences – enabling precise modification of biomolecules, deepening our mechanistic understanding of disease, and opening new avenues in medicinal chemistry. At the same time, the realities of a rapidly changing climate demand chemical processes that minimise waste and energy consumption.

In this inaugural lecture, I will present how our research group seeks to invent new reactivity paradigms to address fundamental unsolved problems in organic chemistry. By expanding the toolbox of synthesis, we aim not only to reach unexplored regions of chemical space, but also to lay the foundations for discoveries that have potential to resonate far beyond chemistry.

Kurzlebenslauf / CV

Christopher J. Teskey studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge before moving in 2012 to University of Manchester for a PhD in Organic Chemistry with Prof Michael Greaney. In 2016, he was awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship at the University of Manchester before moving in 2017 to the University of Vienna as a Lise Meitner Research Fellow of the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) in the group of Prof. Nuno Maulide. From 2019 to 2023, he led a Junior Research Group at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at RWTH Aachen, Germany. Since November 2023, he has been a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the TU Braunschweig where he holds both a Heisenberg Professorship and a Niedersachsen-Impuls-Professorship.

Referent*in

Prof. Dr. Christopher J. Teskey, Institut für Organische Chemie

Zur Website der Veranstaltung →
Veranstaltung im Kalender speichern →