CiQUS & Dept. Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

CiQUS group is specialized on the synthesis of large polycyclic aromatic compounds and nanographenes by solution chemistry. In recent years, this work allowed them to collaborate with several groups which are specialized in atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). This talk will provide an overview of such collaborations in the interface between organic chemistry and surface science. In particular, it will focus on the generation of highly reactive molecules, the molecular characterization of heavy petroleum fractions, the synthesis of graphene materials and the on-surface preparation of large acenes.

Short CV of the speaker

Diego Peña was born in Santiago de Compostela in 1974. He obtained his PhD degree in 2001 from the University of Santiago de Compostela, under supervision of Dolores Pérez and Enrique Guitián. He was PhD visitor at Harvard University (1999), LMU Munich (2000) and UAM Madrid (2001). During 2002 and 2003 he joined the group of Ben L. Feringa (Nobel Laureate 2016) at Groningen University as a Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow  working on asymmetric catalysis. He was postdoc visitor at DSM Research, Geleen. In 2004 he moved back to the University of Santiago de Compostela as Ramón y Cajal researcher. Since 2008 he is Associate Professor there. In 2015 he obtained the Full Professor. Accreditation by the Spanish Government. In 2016 he was visiting professor at Trinity College Dublin (CRANN). Dr. Peña has published 72 research papers 2.800 citations, h-index = 28, by WoS-Dec 2017), including publications selected as front covers for Science and Nature Chemistry. His main research interests are focused on the development of new synthetic methodologies, the synthesis of large aromatic compounds, nanographenes, and on-surface chemistry.