Karsten Meyer (chemist)

Meyer was born on May 17, 1968, in Herne, Germany.[7][8] He studied chemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum, receiving his diploma (in chemistry) in May 1995.[8] In summer 1995, Meyer then joined the laboratory of Professor Karl Wieghardt at the Max Planck Institute for Radiation Chemistry, where he worked on the synthesis of novel high-valent nitrido complexes of manganese,[9] chromium[10] and iron.[11] These nitrido complexes were generated by the photolysis of the corresponding azido complexes.[8] Meyer graduated in January 1998 with his Ph.D. He then moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a DFG Postdoctoral Fellow in 1998 to conduct research in the laboratory of Professor Christopher Cummins.[8] AT MIT, Meyer worked on amido complexes of uranium with novel amido ligands[12] and dinitrogen cleavage with heterobimetallic complexes of niobium and molybdenum.[13]

In 2001, Meyer began his independent career as an assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego. Then in 2006, Meyer moved to the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg as the Chair of the Institute of Inorganic & General Chemistry.[14]

Meyer's early work featured explored the coordination chemistry of uranium with small molecules such as carbon dioxide[15][16] and light alkanes.[17] Additionally, Meyer's group synthesized novel tripodal N-heterocyclic carbene ligands[18][19] to stabilize reactive intermediates such as an iron(IV) nitride.[20][21] In 2011, in collaboration with Prof. Jeremy M. Smith's group, Meyer achieved the first synthesis and characterization of a stable iron(V) nitride complex.[22][23][24][25]

Other research highlights include:

• 2013: In collaboration with Prof. Ingo Krossing's group, the first crystallographic characterization of the 2-norbornyl cation, a prototypical non-classical carbocation whose exact structure has been debated for decades[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]
• 2014: The synthesis of a novel tripodal redox-active ligand class,[33][34] which was then used to stabilize a low-valent U(II) oxidation state complex[35]
• 2016: The first example of a uranium-based electrocatalyst for the reduction of water to dihydrogen,[36] and the investigation of its reaction mechanism[37][38]

• Hellman Fellow, Chris & Warren Hellman Young Faculty Award, 2002[39]
• Faculty Career Development Award, Academic Senate, UCSD, 2003[39]
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2004[39]
• Lifetime Honorary Member, Israel Chemical Society, 2009[39]
• Visiting Professor at the University of Manchester, since 2009[39]
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Award, 2009[39]
• Dalton Transactions European / African Lectureship Award, 2010[40]
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011[39]
• JSPS Professorship, "Brain Circulation Project", Nagoya Institute of Technology, 2015[39]
• Elhuyar-Goldschmidt Award, Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017[39]
• Ludwig Mond Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017[4]
• L.A. Chugaev Commemorative Medal, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2017[39]

• German Chemical Society (GDCh), since 1995[39]
• American Chemical Society (ACS), since 1997[39]
• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), since 2011[39]

Meyer's hobbies include nature and macro photography, scuba diving, and driving his car on a closed circuit.[8]