Giorgio Olivo

Associate professor

Biography

Giorgio Olivo (born 1988) pursued his Master (2011-2012) and PhD studies (2012-2015) in Chemistry at “Sapienza” University of Rome under the supervision of Prof. Stefano Di Stefano. His research, at the interface of Organic and Coordination Chemistry, focused on oxidation processes mediated by nonheme Fe complexes, investigating structure-activity relationships, exploring different catalyst designs and investigating bioinorganic reaction mechanisms (Thesis title: Nonheme iron complexes as catalysts for non-activated C-H oxidation reactions). During his doctoral studies, he performed two research stays at university of Girona (Spain) and ESRF (France) for an overall period of 8 months. In 2016, he joined the group of Prof. M. Costas (QBIS) at University of Girona (Spain) as a Juan De la Cierva Postdoc fellow, where he explored the use of supramolecular interactions to control selectivity in C(sp3)-H oxidation reactions catalyzed by Fe and Mn complexes. In Girona, he worked also on a project on enantioselective C-H lactonization of aliphatic carboxylic acids. In 2021 he moved back to Rome (“La Sapienza” university), first as a Postdoc (assegno di ricerca, jan-nov 2021) and then as an Assistant Professor in Organic Chemistry (RTD-b, Nov 2021 to now).

Research activity

Scientific area:

Organic chemistry

Research activity:

Rational control of selectivity in C-H functionalization Direct functionalization of ubiquitous C-H bonds is regarded as a holy grail in organic synthesis, as it is the most straightforward, and hence the most effective route to obtain the desired product in a minimal number of steps, optimizing the use of resources. Unfortunately, functionalization of strong C-H bonds requires highly reactive species which must single out a specific, often unreactive site among many similar ones. This is a challenging task, and current technologies do not permit to target every site. My research aims to enrich the current C-H functionalization toolbox and contribute to overcome its current limitations. Rational design of new radical or radical like reactants and catalysts will allow to: 1) alter current selectivity to target C-H bonds that are now difficult to distinguish, especially adopting a supramolecular approach. 2) disclose and understand new reactivity for sustainable C-H functionalization, especially focusing on sustainable ligand activation at metal complexes.

Supervisor of the following lines of research:

Funzionalizzazione selettiva di legami C-H

In the staff of the following lines of research:

Profilo ORCID:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4053-7673

Scientific papers:

lista pubblicazioni.pdf

Teaching

Chimica Organica III (canale 2)

Available to students:

martedì 15:00-17:00. chiedere appuntamento via email