¨ttingen in 1969. He received the Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Professor H.-J. Scha ¨fer in 1971 at the same university with a thesis on the "Anodic Oxidation of Olefins". He was a postdoctoral fellow at The Ohio State University in the group of Professor T. Kuwana in the year 1971/72 working on the spectroelectrochemical study of redox proteins of the respiratory chain. In 1978 he received his "Habilitation" (venia legendi) at the University of Mu ¨nster in the field of Organic Chemistry with a thesis on the spectroelectrochemical study of olefin radical cations and the development of indirect electrochemical processes for organic synthesis. In 1981 he was promoted to University Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Kekule ´-Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Bonn. He has published more than 120 research papers and several reviews and chapters in the field of organic electrochemistry, bioelectrochemistry, photoinduced electron transfer, and electron transfer-catalyzed reactions applying these methods mainly for the selective synthesis of enantiomerically pure biologically active compounds and to a smaller extent to the development of sensors. He is guest editor of a series in electrochemistry in Topics in Current Chemistry

Linear polymeric polyanions (see picture) are assembled from lacunary polyoxotungstate building blocks and lanthanide cations. Given the large number of lanthanide and lacunary polyoxoanions available, a considerable variety of new materials is now accessible.

A new facile procedure to prepare three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) materials of perovskite-type La 1-x Sr x FeO 3 (x ) 0-0.4) mixed metal oxides by using colloidal crystal templating method is presented. This method can ensure the desired metal ratio throughout the preparation procedure, and the desired single-phase materials can successfully be prepared. Mixed metal nitrates were dissolved in ethylene glycol-methanol mixed solvent and penetrated into the colloidal crystal template of polystyrene spheres. During the calcination process, the mixed metal nitrates react with ethylene glycol and converted to mixed metal glyoxylates in voids of colloidal crystals before the polymer sphere bursts. After removing the sphere template and converting the mixed metal glyoxylates to the mixed metal oxides, the 3DOM materials of the perovskite-type La 1-x Sr x FeO 3 (x ) 0-0.4) mixed metal oxides were obtained, which was characterized on the basis of thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, chemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption technique. Furthermore, the advantage of the 3DOM perovskite-type materials for combustion of nanosize carbon, which is a model of particulate matter exhausted from diesel engines, was demonstrated.

Four distinct structural types (orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal and amorphous) of Mo 3 VO x catalyst were each synthesized by a hydrothermal method as a single phase, characterized structurally and tested for oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane. A common structural feature of the catalysts is that the materials are a layer-type structure and constructed with pentagonal {Mo 6 O 21 } units. The arrangement of the pentagonal units can form heptagonal channels to create different structural features. The orthorhombic Mo 3 VO x catalyst has microporosity due to the open heptagonal channels adsorbing nitrogen molecules and showed the highest activity for the reaction among four distinct catalysts. Furthermore, this phase appeared to be most active, currently, compared to other complex metal oxide catalysts reported. An observed positive relation between the microporosity and the oxidation activity suggests that the catalytic oxidation takes place at the heptagonal channels.

Redox treatments of an orthorhombic Mo 29 V 11 O 112 catalyst (MoVO) were conducted and its crystal structure, microporosity, and catalytic activity were investigated. TPR and TG revealed that MoVO evolved two kinds of lattice oxygen (α-oxygen and β-oxygen) from the structure by reduction treatment. In the early stage of reduction, αoxygen was evolved from the structure, causing expansion of the micropore channel. With further reduction, the atoms in the pentagonal [Mo 6 O 21 ] 6− unit moved toward the micropore channel, resulting in a decrease in micropore size. Expansion of the micropore drastically increased catalytic activity for selective oxidation of ethane, but the activity was decreased by a reduction in the micropore channel size. Strong relationships were found between crystal structure, microporosity, and catalytic activity for selective oxidation of ethane.