Wolfgang Anton Herrmann
was born on April 18, 1948 in Kelheim/Donau (Bavaria) and studied chemistry at the Technical University Munich from 1967 to 1971, graduating under the guidance of E. O. Fischer. In 1973 he obtained his Ph.D. under the guidance of H. Brunner at the University of Re-gensburg and went to P. S. Skell at the Pennsylvania State University to perform postdoctoral research. His habilitation, finished in 1978, dealt with “organometal syntheses using diazoalkanes.” One year later he became associate professor at the University of Regensburg and in 1982 became full professor at the University of Frankfurt/ Main. Since 1985 he has been full professor and Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Technical University Munich, following E. O. Fischer. He was elected President of the Technical University Munich in 1995 and re-elected in 1999.
Among his numerous awards are the Chemistry Prize of the Göttin-gen Academy of Sciences (1979), the Otto-Klung Award (1982), the Leibniz Award of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (1986), the Alexander von Humboldt Award of the French Ministry of Education (1989), the Otto-Bayer Award of the Bayer AG (1990), the Max Planck Research Award (1991), the Pino Medal (1994), the Luigi Sacconi Medal (2000) of the Società Chimica Italiana, the Wilhelm Klemm Award of the GDCh (1995), and the Werner Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2000). He is officer of the l’Ordre d’Honneur of the French President and was decorated with the German Federal Cross of Merit. He is author of some 600 publications and owner of more than 50 patents. Together with B. Cornils, he has published the books Applied Homogenous Catalysis with Organometallic Complexes (VCH-Wiley, 1996) and Aqueous-Phase Organometallic Chemistry (VCH-Wiley, 1998). He is the editor of several scientific journals and a member of the Kuratorium of Angewandte Chemie.
Scientific Sketch
Herrmann’s research areas reach from organo-metallic chemistry and catalysis, including industrial processes such as the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, olefin-metatheses, olefinoxidations, biphasic hydroformylation systems, and the production of isotactical polypropylene, to the formation of metalmetal multiple bonds with ligand-free transition and main group metals. Organo-lanthanoid complexes, water-soluble catalysts (e.g., for hydroformylation), and inorganic and organic materials are under investigation. Special attention is paid to ceramic materials, corrosion-stable layers, and polymers but also to the determination of the effects of metals (especially aluminum, bismuth, and antimony) on biological systems.
The focus of research is presently given to or-ganometallic catalysis in industrial chemistry. For example, a novel four-component system for the selective catalytic oxidation of terminal alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes was developed in Herrmann’s group employing H2O2, methyltrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO), HBr and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxide (TEMPO) (Fig. 1, J. Organomet. Chem. 1999, 579, 404). MTO has proven to be the most efficient catalyst of olefin epoxidation known to date.
Due to his interests in carbene chemistry and catalytic processes, Herrmann established a carbene-ligand-based protocol for Heck couplings of bromo and chloro arenes in nearly quantitative yields using very small amounts (1O–3 mol%) of palladium-carbene complexes (Fig. 2, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1995, 34, 2371).
Figure 1. Mechanism of the MTO/HBr/TEMPO catalyzed oxidation.
Figure 2. Carbene-based palladium complexes for Heck reactions.
Similarly, the first catalytic C-F activation of arylfluorides at ambient temperature to form novel C-C bonds was reported recently by employment of nickel(0) carbene catalysts (Angew. Chem Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 3387).
The advantages of N-heterocyclic carbene li-gands in homogenous catalytic reactions in comparison to phosphane ligands were also demonstrated in the area of olefin metathesis (e.g., patents, DE 1981527.5 and WO 99/51344).
Filled Trout
Starting materials:
1 trout per person
bacon or dried meat
2 tsp butter per fish
salt
pepper
The longest part of the preparation is rinsing the trouts under cold running water until they do not feel slimy any more and all blood is scrupulously removed from the inside.
Then each fish is filled with:
a) chopped ”Wammerl” (the Bavarian word for bacon or dried meat)
b) warm melted butter (2 tsp per fish)
c) small amounts of salt and pepper.
Wrap the fish with aluminum foil and bake them in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes at 170 °C (fan-assisted oven).
Serve with new potatoes (e.g., “Erna” from Bavaria), green salad, and a light white wine, e.g., an Austrian Danube-Valley “Grüner Veltiner” from the Krems area or a “Rheingau-Riesling Kabinett.”
Enjoy your meal!
«Serving fish that way makes even Bavarian people enjoy it, including the President, the Vice Presidents, and the Chancellor of the Technical University of Munich.»
Wolfgang A. Herrmann