Alessandro Mandoli

Education:

Laurea Degree (1993, chem., c. Laude): Università di Pisa, Italy (Prof. D. Pini).

Diploma in Chimica (1993): Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy.

Ph.D. (1998, chem.): Università di Pisa, Italy (Prof. D. Pini, P. Salvadori).

Postdoc (1998-99): Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands (Prof. Ben L. Feringa).

Professional experience:

Ricercatore (Assistant Professor) at Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, Italy (2006-present).

Continuous-flow asymmetric catalysis (2004-present).

New chiral phosphoramidites for the copper-catalysed enantioselective 1,4-addition (1998-1999).

Development of supported systems for heterogeneous enantioselective catalysis (1994-present).

Mass spectrometry determination of environmental organic pollutants (1994).

The research interests of Alessandro Mandoli are centred on organic synthesis and stereochemistry, with a particular focus on the preparation of enantiomerically enriched chiral compounds by the use of supported catalytic systems. This led him to develop new procedures for the immobilization of chiral ligands and metal complexes onto classical (e.g. polystyrene and silica-gel) and unconventional insoluble supports (e.g. cross-linked polysiloxane elastomers). More recently the focus of his research moved towards the use of chiral organocatalysts operating through amine or iminium/enamine mechanisms.
Irrespective of the specific case under investigation, a particular emphasis of his work has been always put onto the efficiency in the preparation of the immobilized catalyst and its recycling capability.
In this context, since 2004 he has been involved in the use of flow systems as the most effective way of employing supported asymmetric catalysts in organic synthesis. In addition to the study of several metal- and organocatalyzed enantioselective transformations in mini and meso flow reactors, this work eventually led to the present interest in the development of catalytic devices belonging to the microreactor class.
In the perspective of the rational design of supported catalysts, a complementary yet important activity concerns the study of the influence of the structure of ligand/organocatalyst on the performance in stereoselective transformations.