A host of researchers who have dedicated their studies to developing catalysts and other devices using platinum group metals (PGMs) have been rewarded.

Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has awarded one of its 2006 Excellence in Chemistry Awards to Professor Melanie S Sanford for her studies into new transition metal catalysed reactions for applications in organic synthesis. Professor Sanford's past research has focused on the mechanism of ruthenium-catalysed olefin metathesis reactions.

Professor Stephen L Buchwald of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will speak at the AstraZeneca awards, delivering a presentation titled "Transition Metal-Catalyzed Carbon-Carbon and Carbon-Heteroatom Bond-Forming Processes: Progress, Applications and Mechanistic Studies".

Meanwhile, at the Ninth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Maryland, two students presented their work with pgms.

Chemistry major Jason K Navin presented his work with Dr Anderson Marsh of the chemistry department, entitled "Hydrogenation of cyclohexanone by colloidal platinum nanocatalysts".

Paige Callan also presented her work, entitled titled "Application of ruthenium and osmium tris-bipyridine frameworks as mass markers in MALDI-TOF experiments involving covalently labeled peptide chains", in conjunction with Dr Marc Harris and Dr Walter Patton, both of the university's chemistry department.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd