Joaquín López Serrano
Group: Organometallic Chemistry: structure, reactivity and aplications
Position: US Tenured Professor
Contact
Tel. ext: 446262
Office: SE S016B
Email:
ORCID: 0000-0003-3999-0155
Biography
Joaquín López-Serrano studied Chemistry at the University of Murcia, Spain, where he also completed his PhD thesis (2004) on synthetic organometallic chemistry. He then moved to the University of York (UK) as a postdoctoral fellow, where he employed hyperpolarisation techniques within Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to investigate the mechanisms of inorganic reactions and catalysis. During this period, he contributed to the early development of a new hyperpolarisation method, Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange (SABRE), and became interested in the application of molecular modelling to the study of reaction mechanisms, following a visit to the group of Prof Agustí Lledós at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). In 2008, he returned to Spain and obtained a Ramón y Cajal research contract at the University of Seville, working in the group of Prof E. Carmona at the Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas (IIQ; US-CSIC). In 2017, he was appointed Profesor Titular (Associate Professor) of Inorganic Chemistry. Since december 2021, Joaquín López is Vicedirector of the IIQ.
Research interests
Alongside his teaching duties, his research interests encompass all aspects of molecular inorganic and organometallic chemistry, with particular emphasis on computational approaches to elucidate reaction mechanisms and molecular properties. He primarily employs Density Functional Theory (DFT) to compute reaction energy profiles, complemented by analyses such as Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) methods, topological analysis of electron density (QTAIM) for unbiased bond characterisation, and energy decomposition techniques based on interacting fragments, including Energy Decomposition Analysis (EDA) and Natural Orbitals for Chemical Valence (NOCV). Computational studies are carried out in parallel with experimental work in the laboratory, either through direct supervision of undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students or in collaboration with other senior researchers. This synergistic approach ultimately aims to provide insights that guide the design of new catalysts.
Selected publications
- Bajo, Sonia; Soto, Enrique; Fernández-Buenestado, Marta; López-Serrano, Joaquín; Campos, Jesús. 2024. A low-coordinate platinum(0)-germylene for E–H bond activation and catalytic hydrodehalogenation. Nature Communications. 15-1.
- Fernández-Buenestado, Marta; Somerville, Rosie J.; López-Serrano, Joaquín; Campos, Jesús. 2023. A genuine germylene PGeP pincer ligand for formic acid dehydrogenation with iridium. Chem. Commun.The Royal Society of Chemistry. 59, pp.8826-8829.
- Monti, Andrea; López-Serrano, Joaquín; Prieto, Auxiliadora; Nicasio, M. Carmen. 2023. Broad-Scope Amination of Aryl Sulfamates Catalyzed by a Palladium Phosphine Complex. ACS Catalysis. 13-16, pp.10945-10952.
- Hidalgo, Nereida; Moreno, Juan José; Pérez‐Jiménez, Marina; Maya, Celia; López‐Serrano, Joaquín; Campos, Jesús. 2020. Evidence for Genuine Bimetallic Frustrated Lewis Pair Activation of Dihydrogen with Gold(I)/Platinum(0) Systems. Chemistry : a European journal.VCH Verlagsgesellschaft. 26-27, pp.5982-5993. ISSN 0947-6539.
- Romero-Arenas, Antonio; Hornillos, Valentín; Iglesias-Sigüenza, Javier; Fernández, Rosario; López-Serrano, Joaquín; Ros, Abel; Lassaletta, José M. 2020. Ir-Catalyzed Atroposelective Desymmetrization of Heterobiaryls: Hydroarylation of Vinyl Ethers and Bicycloalkenes. Journal of the American Chemical Society.American Chemical Society,. 142-5, pp.2628-2639. ISSN 0002-7863.