Rate My Professor Drasko Vidovic

Vidovic's research focuses on organometallic chemistry, including the synthesis, structure, and application of complexes utilizing carbones as neutral, carbon-centered ligands for isolating electron-deficient main group elements such as phosphorus and bismuth, as well as transition metals like ruthenium. He develops green and sustainable chemistry protocols using earth-abundant aluminium-based Lewis acids as catalysts for organic transformations, encompassing Diels-Alder cycloadditions, Michael additions, borylations, dearomatisations, and polymerization of cyclic dienophiles. His work also extends to medicinal chemistry through collaborations on catalytic site-specific deuteration of polyunsaturated fatty acids for potential treatments of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Key publications include 'A stable two-coordinate acyclic silylene' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012), 'Isolation of a Bis(oxazol-2-ylidene)–Phenylborylene Adduct and its Reactivity as a Boron-Centered Nucleophile' (Angewandte Chemie, 2014), 'Synthesis and characterization of a coordinated oxoborane: Lewis acid stabilization of a boron-oxygen double bond' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2005), 'Lewis acid catalysed polymerisation of cyclopentenone' (Chemical Science, 2024), and 'Hydroboration of imines: intermolecular vs. intramolecular hydride transfer' (New Journal of Chemistry, 2023). He supervises PhD students in organometallic chemistry and teaches units such as CHM2951 Environmental Chemistry: Water.