Ribas, Xavi

Sustainable C-H functionalization catalysis and Supramolecular chemistry at the confined space of nanocapsules.

Contact info:
Dr. Xavi Ribas
xavi.ribas@udg.edu
Tel. (+34) 972 41 91 94
Website

XaviRibas

Selected publications


Fabian M. Steudel, Ernest Ubasart, Luigi Leanza, Míriam Pujals, Teodor Parella, Giovanni M. Pavan, Xavi Ribas, Max von Delius
Synthesis of C60 /[10]CPP‐Catenanes by Regioselective, Nanocapsule‐Templated Bingel Bis‐Addition
Angew Chem Int Ed, 2023, — , e202309393
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202309393

Míriam Pujals, Tània Pèlachs, Carles Fuertes-Espinosa, Teodor Parella, Marc Garcia-Borràs, Xavi Ribas
Regioselective access to orthogonal Diels-Alder C60 bis-adducts and tris-heteroadducts via supramolecular mask strategy
Cell Reports Physical Science, 2022, 3, 100992
DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100992

Ernest Ubasart, Oleg Borodin, Carles Fuertes-Espinosa, Youzhi Xu, Cristina García-Simón, Laura Gómez, Judith Juanhuix, Felipe Gándara, Inhar Imaz, Daniel Maspoch, Max von Delius, Xavi Ribas
A three-shell supramolecular complex enables the symmetry-mismatched chemo- and regioselective bis-functionalization of C60
Nat. Chem., 2021, 13, 420-427
DOI: 10.1038/s41557-021-00658-6

Carles Fuertes-Espinosa, Cristina García-Simón, Míriam Pujals, Marc Garcia-Borràs, Laura Gómez, Teodor Parella, Judit Juanhuix, Inhar Imaz, Daniel Maspoch, Miquel Costas, Xavi Ribas
Supramolecular Fullerene Sponges as Catalytic Masks for Regioselective Functionalization of C60
Chem., 2020, 6, 169-186
DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2019.10.010

Lorena Capdevila, Tjark H. Meyer, Steven Roldán-Gómez, Josep M. Luis, Lutz Ackermann, Xavi Ribas
Chemo-Divergent Nickel(0)-Catalyzed Arene C–F Activation with Alkynes: Unprecedented C-F/C-H Double-Insertion
ACS Catal., 2019, 9, 11074?11081
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b03620

+ Publications

Dr. Xavi Ribas

Xavi Ribas (1974, Santa Coloma de Farners) obtained his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Girona (UdG) in 2001, and he carried out a 3-year postdoc at ICMAB-CSIC in 2002-2004. He was promoted to Associate professor in Chemistry at UdG in 2006. His research over the last years has been focused on three main projects; a) Fundamental mechanistic studies on redox transition metals in organometallic cross coupling and C-H activation and functionalization of arenes, b) Study of structural and functional modelling of non-heme Fe, Mn and Cu oxygenases and its application as selective oxidation catalysts, c) development of nanocapsules for catalysis at the confined space, host-guest reactions and purification of fullerenes and endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs).

He was awarded with an ICREA-Acadèmia prize in 2010, and an ERC-Starting Grant in 2011 (ERC-2011-StG-277801, till Nov 2017), the latter on C-X and C-H functionalization involving Cu(III) species. Moreover, he obtained two consecutive grants from MINECO (CTQ2013-43012-P, CTQ2016-77989-P). He was awarded with a second ICREA-Acadèmia prize in 2015, and an ERC-Proof of Concept Grant in 2015 (ERC-PoC-2015-709590). He is also leading the Catalan project (2017 SGR 264), and the Univ. Girona research projects MCPUdG2016 and GdRCompetUdG2017. In 2018 he was awarded with the Premio a la Excelencia Investigadora RSEQ 2018.

His work has been published in 123 articles in peer reviewed journals. Moreover, he published 5 book chapters, filled 5 Spanish patents and he edited the book entitled “C-H and C-X functionalization. Transition metal mediation”, published by RSC-Publishing in 2013. He has communicated his work in more than 170 international conferences and he has given over 45 lectures at international conferences and universities. He is also the co-founder of the SpinOff company GIOXCAT.

Research overview

Copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions for the formation of aryl?heteroatom bonds (Ullmann reaction) is currently a hot topic, due to the importance of developing new sustainable synthetic tools. However, several mechanistic key aspects are still under debate. Our goal is to design new catalysts capable of effecting the desired transformations under mild conditions. A breakthrough finding of our group has been the recognition of the Cu(I)/Cu(III) catalytic redox cycle as a viable mechanism in Ullmann-type catalysis. This coupling reactivity has been extended for the first time to the other coinage metals, i.e. Ag(I)/Ag(III) and Au(I)/Au(III) catalytic cycles. Our research interests also involve the development and mechanistic understanding of C-H activation catalyzed by cheaper and less toxic first-row transition metal, especially Co and Ni. Finally, the catalytic procedures are explored in confined environments using supramolecular metallocages, including asymmetric transformations via organometallic catalysis and the purification of fullerenes and EMFs.

Sustainable C-X and C-H functionalization catalyzed by first-row transition metals.

Metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions for the formation of aryl?heteroatom bonds is a hot topic, due to the importance of developing new sustainable synthetic tools. However, several mechanistic key aspects are still under debate. Our goal is to design new catalysts capable of effecting the desired transformations under mild conditions. A breakthrough finding of our group has been the recognition of the Cu(I)/Cu(III) catalytic redox cycle as a viable mechanism in Ullmann-type catalysis. Analogous Ag(I)/Ag(III) and Au(I)/Au(III) redox catalysis are also under investigation. The development of more sustainable direct C-H functionalization reactions, catalyzed by transition-metals, is another enormous challenge. Our research is focused on the quest of cheaper and less toxic first-row transition metal activation of C-H bonds, with the understanding of the molecular mechanism of such transformations as a major goal.
Xavi_Ribas_research_line_1

Catalysis in the confined space

The supramolecular design of 3D nanocapsules is pursued through metal-driven self-assembly, with potential applications as reaction nanovessels and supramolecular hosts. Along this strategy, we have been able to synthesize a variety of structures that include molecular nanosized squares and rectangles, helicates and trigonal and tetragonal prismatic nanocapsules. We have been able to demonstrate the effectiveness of asymmetric hydroformylation catalyzed by anchored Rh-catalysts using metalloporphyrin-containing tetragonal prismatic nanocapsules. Moreover, the host-guest properties of nanocapsules are currently being exploited in the purification of fullerenes and EMFs, and in their regioselective functionalization by taking advantage of the use of nanocapsules as supramolecular masks.

People

Principal Investigator

Xavi Ribas

Prof. Agregat


Staff and Postdocs

Carles Fuertes

Postdoc (BP)

Supervisor:
- M. Costas
- X. Ribas

Hugo Valdés

Postdoc (BP)

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Lorena Capdevila

Postdoc

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Muthuramalingam Sethuraman

Postdoc (JdC-F)

Supervisor:
- X. Rivas


PhD and MACMoM students

Clara Sabrià

PhD Student (FI)

Supervisor:
- F. Feixas
- X. Ribas

Eva Prat

PhD student

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Judith Sala

PhD student (FI)

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Míriam Pujals Crusat

PhD Student (IF-UdG)

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Tània Pèlachs

PhD student (FPU)

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas

Valentina Iannace

PhD student (FPI)

Supervisor:
- X. Ribas


Funding

ICREA Acadèmia Awards

Project: Programa ICREA Acadèmia 2020
Researcher: Dr. Xavi Ribas
Reference: ICREA Acadèmia 2020
Funding: 205.000 €
Period: 01/01/2021 – 31/12/2025

MCIU Proyectos I+D

Project: Funcionalización regioselectiva de moléculas esféricas con máscaras supramoleculares y síntesis bottom-up de nanografenos
Researcher: Dr. Xavi Ribas
Reference: PID2022-136970NB-I00
Funding: 281.250 €
Period: 01/09/2023 – 31/08/2026

Juan de la Cierva

Project: Juan de la Cierva – Formación
Researcher: Dr. Muthuramalingam Sethuraman (X. Ribas)
Reference: FJC2021-047874-I
Funding: 52.600 €
Period: 01/01/2023 – 31/12/2024

Fundación Ramón Areces

Project: Manipulación regioselectiva de esferas de carbono para revolucionar la eficiencia de las celdas solares (RegioSolar)
Researcher: Dr. Xavi Ribas
Reference: XX Concurso Nacional para la Adjudicación de Ayudas a la Investigación en Ciencias de la Vida y de la Materia
Funding: 112.000 €
Period: 12/05/2021 – 11/05/2024

Beatriu de Pinós

Project: Beatriu de Pinós
Researcher: Dr. Hugo Valdés (X. Ribas)
Reference: 2019 BP 0080
Funding: 144.300 €
Period: 01/03/2021 – 28/02/2024
Project: Beatriu de Pinós
Researcher: Dr. Carles Fuertes (X. Ribas)
Reference: 2022 BP 00078
Funding: 152.348 €
Period: 01/01/2024 – 31/12/2026

REQ

Project: Margarita Salas
Researcher: Dr. Carles Fuertes
Reference: REQ2021_A_11
Funding: 79.100 €
Period: 4/4/2022 – 3/4/2024

Other projects

Company: Laboratorios LETI
Researcher: Xavi Ribas
Funding: – €
Period: 2013-2023

Collaborations

Luis EchegoyenUniversity of Texas (United States), collaboration with Xavi Ribas.
News

Cover JACS on supramolecular masks

The JACS journal features on its inside inner cover the recently published research article “Regioswitchable Bingel

Regioswitchable Bingel Bis-Functionalization of Fullerene C70 via Supramolecular Masks

Isomer-pure functionalized fullerenes are required to boost the development of fullerene chemistry in

Carles Fuertes, new Margarita Salas postdoc fellow at IQCC

Dr. Carles Fuertes has recently become a new member of the Institute of Computational

PhD defense Pau Font Rubio

Next Friday will be the defense of the doctoral thesis of Pau Font Rubio,