Joost Reek

About me

After the success of NRSCC (a program on fundamental catalysis research), CATCHBIO, ACTS and alike, (applied catalysis programs with industry), to which I have contributed significantly, I was very enthusiastic about this initiative in which applied and fundamental catalysis are combined. I see this as the ideal environment to develop new approaches in catalysis, and apply them to problems provided by the industry. At the end of the program I would like to have severeal examples of new (supramolecular) approaches or new insights in reactions that lead to potential applications for the industrial partners.

About my research

The introduction of various supramolecular concepts in transition metal catalysis. With these new types of catalyst we can address activity and selectivity issues that cannot be solved by traditional means. We have applied these strategies to industrial relevant reactions such as hydroformylation and hydrogenation, for the exploration of new reactions for the conversion of biofeedstock, and for photodriven catalytic reactions for green energy applications. The strategies works so well, that we started a spin off company to capitalize on the commercial potential, and also we have several collaborations with industry to further look into the valorization of these findings.