Prof. Miquel A. Pericàs

Miquel A. Pericàs was born in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) in 1951. He studied Chemical Engineering (Institut Químic de Sarrià, 1974) and Chemistry (University of Barcelona 1974), and obtained his PhD (University of Barcelona) in 1979. After postdoctoral studies at the Spanish Research Council (1979-1980), he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Barcelona in 1980 as an Associate Professor, being promoted to Full Professor in 1991. In 2000 he was appointed as the Founding Director of the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), a position he has hold till September 2020.

Prof. Pericàs major research interests are focused on enantioselective catalysis in batch and flow with species immobilized onto polymers and magnetic nanoparticles, and on the discovery of new reactions mediated by light. His most notable works have focused on the study of the Pauson-Khand reaction, asymmetric synthesis, development of supported catalysts and continuous flow processes. Miquel A. Pericàs authored or co-authored 338 scientific publications and 27 patents. He has supervised 57 graduate students and 55 Post-doc associates.

Along his career he has also mainteined entrepreneurial activity, being a co-founder of Enantia, S. L. (spin-off of Universitat de Barcelona, 2003), Treellum Technologies (spin-off of ICIQ, 2020) and A&A Sustainability Consulting (2022).

In 2000, he was a recipient of the Distinció de la Generalitat de Catalunya per a la Promoció de la Recerca Universitària award, in 2001 he received the Janssen-Cylag award of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry for research in organic chemistry and, in 2005, the Narcís Monturiol Medal of Generalitat de Catalunya for Scientific and Technological Merits. In 2019 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, and in 2021 he was elected as a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona and of Academia Europaea. He is a member of the Real Sociedad Española de Química (Vice-president in 2006-2011), Societat Catalana de Química (Chair in 1986-1987), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (since 2014).