Peter Kündig discusses his chemistry career and new editorial role with Joanne Thomson

Peter Kündig

Peter Kündig is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Geneva. His research focuses on the use of transition metals for organic synthesis. He is the new chairman of the Chemical Communications editorial board.

What early influences steered you towards a career as a chemist?
As a child, I was fascinated by science and technology. Shortwave radios, watching planes, homemade explosives and fireworks were all part of my youth. It was much easier make to explosives at home back then because the ingredients - fuses, weed-killer, sulfur - were more readily available.

What are you working on at the moment?

New and more efficient ways to make chiral organic molecules using transition metals is my main concern.  We develop new efficient ways to make new and existing catalysts and we carry out mechanistic studies. We have made new chiral bulky ligands, such as N-heterocyclic carbenes, phosphoramidates, and perfluoroarylphosphinites.
These modify the reactivity of metals and catalyse highly asymmetric reactions including the arylation of amides, hydrogenolysis, cycloadditions and coupling reactions under mild conditions. These and the application of chromium-mediated dearomatisation reactions to natural product synthesis are all areas where I have current interests and research projects.

Transition metal catalysed reactions are already recognised as a significant component of the organic chemist's arsenal. How do you see the field progressing?
Catalysis will continue to see tremendous growth and asymmetric reactions will take a lead in future developments. With the impressive array of reported reactions, it is surprising to see that less than thirty of these processes are used in industrial production. Almost all of them are asymmetric hydrogenations and oxidations. This is bound to change. 

Carbon-heteroatom and carbon-carbon bond forming reactions will come to the fore but catalyst access, stability, efficiency and selectivity will need to be improved. New reactions and cascade processes will keep us busy. There are a lot of things still to do.

What is the trickiest problem you have had to overcome in your research?
My independent career got off to a rather slow start, which was generally the case in Europe in those days. I started with one student. In the first five years, generating many ideas but lacking the possibility to realise them was frustrating. Fortunately, the situation has drastically improved for new researchers over the past twenty years.

What scientific discovery would you like to have been responsible for?

Alkene metathesis as applied to organic synthesis. It is a reaction that has been around for many years. It has been used widely in polymer science and the petroleum industry but its application to fine chemistry needed the selective catalysts developed by Dick Schrock and Bob Grubbs. For this they received the Nobel Prize, along with Yves Chauvin who provided the mechanism. It was something that was waiting to be discovered and it has had a huge impact on organic chemistry. 

You are the new chairman of the ChemComm editorial board. What are your aspirations for the journal?
I am looking forward to working with an editorial staff that has been doing an outstanding job over the years. I would like to help to further increase the visibility of the journal in all areas of frontier chemistry and strengthen its position as one of the leading communication journals in which everyone wants to publish their best and newest research.

You won the EuCheMS award for service in recognition of your work for European cooperation in science. Why is cooperation between European chemical societies so important?
With more than 50 societies, European chemistry is too fragmented. More and more decisions, and a growing part of our research funding, will come from Brussels. There has to be a rallying point for chemists in Europe otherwise chemistry will be neglected by European politicians. A strong single voice for the 150 000 members of national chemical societies is needed. EUCHEMS provides this umbrella structure and it will be far more effective than the individual societies on their own. The very successful 1st EuCheMS European Congress in 2005 was a showcase for chemistry in Europe and highlighted future directions. I was happy to be part of it.

What are the highlights of your career so far?
Every day brings new advances. There is no single event in a career that I could look back at and say 'that is a highlight of my career.' Highlights are the discoveries that are made, some planned, many by accident. The highlights are often the recognition of unexpected results.

What do you do in your spare time?
My wife would tell you that I have no spare time, and that chemistry is my life.  However, I like carpentry and motorcycle riding and repairing. I like skiing and mountain walks and travelling to out-of-the-way places in Asia or South America. I have a passion for wines, and keeping the cellar well-stocked is a challenge. Time is, of course, the missing ingredient and chemistry takes up most of it.

If you weren't a scientist, what would you be?
I can't think of anything else. It is the perfect job.