Ulrich Fekl

Ulrich Fekl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). His research focuses on transition metal complexes, particularly exploring redox-active ligands and their applications in synthesis and materials science. He leads a lab conducting experimental work under high vacuum and protective atmosphere conditions, complemented by quantum chemistry computations using SciNet's supercomputing resources. His work includes the development of novel organometallic compounds, mechanistic studies, and the synthesis of diamondoid materials such as adamantane derivatives.

Education: PhD from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (2000), postdoctoral research at the University of Washington (2000–2002) under Karen Goldberg. Tenured since 2008 at UTM.

Research interests span inorganic chemistry, organometallic reactions, and materials design. Key projects involve non-innocent ligands, alkene functionalization, and quantum computing applications in chemistry. His group has pioneered studies on platinum(IV) and palladium(IV) complexes, as well as the use of computational methods to predict novel reactivity patterns.

Recent articles highlight advancements in nanodiamonds, quantum error mitigation, and polar crystals. Awards include the Early Researcher Award (2009) and DAAD fellowships. He advises numerous graduate students and postdocs, with active research positions available in computational quantum chemistry and experimental synthesis.

Labs/Teams: Fekl Research Group at UTM, collaborating with experts in quantum computing and materials characterization. Current projects include ACS-PRF funded work on diamondoids and Banting postdoc opportunities in quantum chemistry.