Catalysts Webinar | Valorization of Biomass Derivatives by Innovative Homogeneous Catalysis
the chairs
14thCatalysts Webinar
Valorization of Biomass Derivatives by Innovative Homogeneous Catalysis
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to join this Open Webinar centred on the recent advances in the valorization of biomass derivatives via homogeneous catalysis processes.
We have the pleasure of hosting two renowned experts in this field, Prof. Akshai Kumar (India) and Prof. Duncan Wass (UK), who will describe some of their recent studies in glycerol dehydrogenation and ethanol homologation, respectively. Following this, two young researchers working in our Research Units at CNR-ICCOM and University of Bologna (Dr. Saikat Pal and Ms. Chiara Lenzi, respectively) will report on their approaches and results in these processes.
This Webinar is organized in collaboration with MDPI Catalysts and represents the final event of the dissemination activities of the Italian National Research PRIN 2022 Project titled "Biomass-derived alcohols and polyols valorization and use by dehydrogenation/hydrogenation reactions promoted by bifunctional and proton-responsive homogeneous catalysts (ALCOVAL)", funded by the European Union–NextGeneration EU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.1, by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR). We trust that this event will be of interest for both those active in the field and for the broader chemistry and catalysis community.
Best regards,
Luca Gonsalvi and Rita Mazzoni
Date: 25 February 2026
Time: 10:00 am CET | 11:00 am EET | 5:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 837 1881 5511
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Meet the Event Chairs
Meet Our Speakers
Prof. Dr. Akshai Kumar
Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India;
Akshai Kumar obtained his B.Sc. (2002) and M.Sc. (2004) from Mangalore University. He pursued his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Ashoka G. Samuelson at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in 2009. After a postdoctoral stint in the same laboratory, in October 2010, he joined the group of Prof. Andreas Terfort at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2012, he extended his postdoctoral activities and worked in the Goldman group at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. In 2015, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. His research interests include: (i) upgradation of light hydrocarbons and their derivatives to fuel grade chemicals; (ii) utilization of petrochemicals and alkanes to generate aromatics; (iii) biomass conversion and transformation of waste biomass to value-added fine chemicals; (iv) conversion of greenhouse gas to fuels and fine chemicals; (v) synthesis of heteroatom- and fluorine-doped π-conjugated molecules for material applications; and (vi) asymmetric catalysis. Career highlights include the development of efficient catalysts for the transformation of waste to fuel and value-added chemicals. This includes the conversion of unproductive hydrocarbons to fuel-grade chemicals, upgrading low-energy-density ethanol to high-energy-density fuels and the generation of green hydrogen via transformation of inexpensive glycerol, ethanol and methanol to high-value lactic acid, acetic acid and formic acid, respectively.
He is a member of the Indian Young Academy of Science, a member of the Bureau of Indian Standards, Core Committee Member of Society of Carbon Dioxide Research & Innovation, member of Chemical Research Society of India and fellow of the Indian Chemical Society. In addition to Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, he is currently the Head of the Centre for Nanotechnology at IIT Guwahati.
Dr. Saikat Pal
Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds (ICCOM), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.;
Saikat Pal obtained his M.Sc. in chemistry from Vidyasagar University, India, in 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Organometallic Synthesis and Catalysis from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, in 2024 under the supervision of Prof. Jitendra K. Bera. Later, he joined Dr. Luca Gonsalvi’s group as a postdoctoral fellow in CNR-ICCOM Florence, where he worked on the valorization of biomass-derived polyol using homogeneous catalysis. He has more than 5 years of experience in organometallic chemistry and catalysis. His interests include organometallic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, reaction mechanisms, and industrial applications.
Prof. Duncan Wass
Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK;
Duncan Wass completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Durham (1992-1995). He then studied for his PhD (1995-1998) under the supervision of Professor Vernon Gibson CB FRS at Imperial College London in the area of late transition metal olefin polymerisation catalysis. In 1999, he joined BP Chemicals Ltd, working in their Sunbury-on-Thames laboratories on various olefin polymerisation and oligomerisation projects. After secondment to a commercial sales and marketing team, he moved to BP's research site in Brussels, Belgium. He moved back into an academic environment in 2004, joining the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and was promoted to Professor of Catalysis in 2012. He moved to Cardiff University in 2018, where he is currently Professor of Catalysis and Director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute. His research interests are in organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis, including: (i) selective catalytic upgrading of small bio-alcohols into advanced biofuels; (ii) transition metal 'frustrated' Lewis pairs and cooperative catalysts; (iii) catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into useful products; (iv) selective oligomerisation of olefins; (v) using catalysis to make self-healing materials; (vi) catalytic conversion of waste (including plastics) into products; and (vii) small-bite-angle phosphine ligands in catalysis.
Ms. Chiara Lenzi
University of Bologna, Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari", Bologna, Italy.;
Chiara Lenzi received her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry in 2021 and her Master of Science in Industrial Chemistry in 2023, both from Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy. She is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Rita Mazzoni at the University of Bologna, focusing on the synthesis, characterization, and study of organometallic complexes for biomass valorization, including scale-up processes. Since 2024, she has been a research fellow working on homogeneous catalysis. Her research background includes studies on N-heterocyclic carbene-based catalysts for water oxidation and noble metal nanoparticles for wastewater treatment.
Sponsors and Partners
Organizer
The Open Webinar kindly hosted by MDPI Catalysts focused on recent results in the application of homogeneous catalysis for the valorization of biomass-derived feestocks such as bioethanol and glycerol. Talks by two renown international experts and two young researchers within the framework of the Italian National Research PRIN 2022 Project “ALCOVAL" showed that this field of research has reached a mature state of knowledge, and that further efforts should be made to increase catalyst lifetime in operando conditions to allow scale up and industrial application. The Webinar lasted 150 minutes and reached a significantly wide audience, with 167 registered attendees from Italy, Europe and other continents, at levels from undergraduate students to full professors, through invitations and advertisment on MDPI Catalysts website and social networks.
The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of the page.