Girona, June 26, 2025. A collaboration between research teams from ICREA, University of Girona, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Minnesota has been awarded a 2025 Horizon Prize for the discovery and characterization of ligands for reactive high-valent iron-oxo oxidants by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Members of the research teams of Profs. Guo, Que and Swart have been awarded a 2025 Horizon Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry for their work on nonheme iron-oxo oxidants. Nonheme Fe(IV)=O species play crucial roles as intermediates in iron-containing enzymes that functionalize C-H bonds of target substrates to form hydroxylated, unsaturated, or halogenated products. This ability to selectively modify C-H bonds makes Fe(IV)=O intermediates highly valuable in synthetic chemistry and biotechnology for the controlled oxidation of organic compounds for generating useful industrial precursors or degradation of environmental toxic matters. Efforts to replicate the reactivity of nonheme iron enzymes by the community led to the synthesis of Fe(IV)=O complexes supported by tetra-/pentadentate ligands that mimic key features of biological intermediates.
The Horizon Prizes by the Royal Society of Chemistry are different from normal prizes, which are often awarded solely to individuals. Instead, the Horizon Prizes recognise significant recent novel discoveries or advances made in the field of inorganic chemistry by teams. I.e., it honours the collaborative efforts of different research groups with different expertise, and follows the recommendations by Rianne Letschert’s acceptance speech[1] of the 2017 Prize of the Young Academy of Europe when she discussed the possibility “to talk about Team Science”.
The three research groups provided expertise in the areas of metallobiochemistry and the redox chemistry of high-valent nonheme iron enzymes and synthetic analogs (Que lab, Minnesota, USA), detailed spectroscopic analysis of high-valent intermediates in nonheme iron enzymes and corresponding synthetic analogs (Guo lab, Carnegie Mellon, USA), and computational analysis of high-valent nonheme iron (Swart lab, Girona, Spain). The members of the team were excited to have been chosen for the award: “It is amazing to know that our works are getting recognition from the scientific community, and I am really pleased to receive this prize” (Abhishek Das), “I was a master student working under the supervision of Pr. Marcel Swart and this was one of my first experiences of research. I feel truly lucky to have been part of that team and this prize is even more than I could have dreamed of” (Mehmet Jahja) and “I am deeply honoured and thrilled to receive this prize as a team member” (Jin Xiong).
Through the combination of state-of-the-art synthesis, catalysis, spectroscopy and theory, the team has discovered and characterized new ligands for oxidative reactions, such as hydrogen-atom or oxygen-atom transfer (HAT, OAT). “One of the biggest challenges was uncovering the mechanism behind the dramatic reactivity differences between two topological isomers of a nonheme Fe(IV)=O complex, caused by a simple flip in its orientation relative to the macrocyclic tetraamine host”, says Bittu Chandra. This emphasizes the role small changes in ligand geometry can play in dictating reactivity. It is this diversification, and the ability to trace it back to the origin of the rate enhancement through a combination of experiments and theory, which has led to more powerful iron(IV)-oxo oxidants. Moreover, “this work provides useful understanding on how to design the primary as well as second coordination sphere to prepare synthetic model systems to replicate the efficiency of the enzymatic systems”, adds Abhishek Das. For the future, “the ultimate outcome of this work may be to promote sustainability by reducing the cost of chemical or biological syntheses through more efficient C-H activation methodologies, which lower material and energy consumption. In particular, it could help decrease the cost of developing and producing medications, as well as other high-value chemical products”, says Jin Xiong.
The Horizon Prize is awarded every year and consists of a trophy, certificates and individual recognition for each team member, and visibility as role models and ambassadors for chemistry.
[1] https://yacadeuro.org/first-edition-of-the-annual-yae-prize-awarded-to-rianne-letschert/
Congratulations Marcel!
Girona, June 26th, 2025
For more info: ges.iqcc@udg.edu