Jitendra K. Bera

Jitendra K. Bera is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). He earned his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, in 1999 and conducted postdoctoral research at Purdue University and Texas A&M University before joining IIT Kanpur in 2003. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2008 and to full Professor in 2011.

His research is centered on organometallic catalysis, with a focus on bimetallic synergism, small molecule activation, and metal-ligand cooperativity. His group designs novel organometallic compounds, particularly bimetallic constructs like dicopper, diruthenium, and dipalladium complexes, to explore their catalytic utility in cycloaddition, carbene transfer, and C-C coupling reactions. A key theme is understanding how metal-metal cooperation influences catalysis. He also develops catalysts that use water as a reagent through bifunctional activation strategies, contributing significantly to the field of green chemistry.

His recent publications highlight a strong trend in synthesizing and characterizing complex organometallic frameworks, particularly dirhodium and diruthenium systems, and studying their reactivity in C-H activation, oxidative scission, and dehydrogenative coupling. The work often involves detailed mechanistic studies to understand the fundamental processes of chemical transformations.

His scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious honors:

• Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2013)
• Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (2014)
• Swarnajayanti Fellowship (DST)
• Ramanna Fellowship (DST)
• Bronze medal of the Chemical Research Society of India
• Selected for the C.N.R. Rao National Award in Chemistry (2018)

Professor Bera leads an active research group at IIT Kanpur, advising students and securing research funding to advance his work in sustainable and efficient catalytic processes. His lab is equipped to perform a wide range of experimental techniques, including X-ray crystallography, NMR, GC-MS, and kinetic studies, supported by computational tools for mechanistic insights.