The CiQUS team has been graced with the addition of a new doctor. We are referring to Felipe Ignacio Verdugo Leal who has just defended his thesis online under the supervision of Professor José Luis Mascareñas and Doctor Fernando López.
This thesis is set within the context of the development of new efficient catalyst synthesis methods that deliver products that are significant in terms of their possible application to bioactive products and pharmaceuticals. To do so, a method has been developed to make optically active polycyclic systems containing 5- and 7-carbon atom rings, in addition to annulation processes that provide highly significant heterocycles, including tetrahydrofuran and pyrrolidines, from common substances. Finally, in a joint project with the University of Zürich, gold complexes have been developed using a groundbreaking strategy to open cyclopropane systems, and their application as catalysts in significant synthetic processes is currently under study.
This study has prompted two scientific articles in the prestigious journal ACS Catalysis and three further manuscripts will be published over the following months in equally prestigious journals.
Personal matters
Verdugo Leal comments that he is considering continuing on the academic path and his short-term plans include “a postdoc in another European country for a couple of years. Then I will probably go back to Chile [his home country] and try and get a job in a university). I would like to continue researching from there while always keeping my ties with Spain.”
The researcher values the potential and the competitive advantages of CiQUS on the national and international map, not only for the excellent working conditions it offers in the technical sense but also for its projection: “Here there are excellent researchers (predoc, postdoc, principal investigators). This combination makes it possible to carry out top-notch research, which is reflected in the articles published in international high-impact journals,” he affirms. Furthermore, Verdugo feels that the professional training and creative freedom CiQUS has given him is a bonus: “I have been able to attend and present my work in congresses, share with researchers from other countries and even spend time abroad (UZH, Zürich). I have made friends in many countries during this time. Moreover, from a scientific point of view, I have always been able to explore the projects I work on, something that has really helped me grow as a researcher.”
The researcher, convinced that the career of research requires a great deal of sacrifice and effort, doesn’t think twice about recommending it because “it is so gratifying”. Creative capacity has always been one of the things that motivates him and exploring the use of metallic catalysts to convert simple molecules into complex structures (his field of study) has been a great challenge. The “molecular LEGO” he now “plays” with is opening up new professional horizons for him.
