The jury decided to award the 2019 Backer-KNCV Prize to Kananat Naksomboon for her PhD-thesis entitled ‘Bidentate ligand-promoted Palladium-catalyzed C-H olefination of aromatic compounds’. The study was conducted at the University of Amsterdam under the guidance of Prof. M.A. Fernández-Ibáñez.

The thesis by Kananat Naksomboon describes new synthesis approaches for sulfur- and phosphor-containing ligands that in combination with palladium pre-catalyst species can form very effective catalysts for selectively functionalizing various aromatic molecules via C-H activation, opening up a wide range of possibilities for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals.

Kananat will receive her prize at CHAINS and lecture about her work.