Career Path
- 2024: CNRS Researcher (CR CN) at Institut des Sciences Moléculaires de Marseille (iSm2), Aix-Marseille University, France
Research Theme: de novo synthesis of artificial systems for NOx, SOx, and POx reduction
- 2022-2024: SNSF Postdoctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich, Switzerland with Prof. Christophe Copéret
Research Theme: Elucidation of the surface sites in graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) using Surface OrganoMetallic Chemistry (SOMC)
- 2021-2022: Postdoctoral Researcher at CEA Paris-Saclay, France with Prof. Ally Aukauloo and Dr. Winfried Leibl
Research Theme: Exploring the intermediates involved in Electro- and Photo-chemical CO2 reduction by an iron-porphyrin complex
- 2014-2021: Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India
Supervisor: Prof. Abhishek Dey
Thesis Title: Understanding Nature's Choice of Macrocyclic Porphyrinoids for Low Valent Chemistry
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2012-2014: Master of Science in Chemistry at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Thesis Supervisor: Prof. Sanjib K Patra
Thesis Title: Developing Vinyl Functionalized Amphiphilic Pyridine Based Monomer to Explore Multifunctional Side-Chain Metallopolymers
- 2009-2014: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Presidency College, Kolkata
Research Interests
de novo synthesis of artificial systems for NOx, SOx, and POx reduction
Like the actual focus on the chemistry of the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to value-added chemicals, or a precursor to produce value-added chemicals, or a fuel, there is an urgent need to address the mitigation of NOx, SOx, and POx eventually leading ultimately to the formation of ammonia, sulfide, and phosphines. Taking a step backward, these transformations are the result of the abstraction of oxygen atoms from these small molecules. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for all forms of life. As a cost of civilization, the massive usage of nitrogen and phosphorous-containing fertilizers ultimately leading to detrimental environmental impacts. One reason behind is being the nitrification pathway which refers to the biological oxidation of ammonia to nitrite (NO2-) and nitrate (NO3-). Due to low retention in soil, these anions, collectively known as NOx and POx, ultimately leached into water bodies, leading to downstream eutrophication and ultimately ‘dead zones’ (low oxygen zones) in coastal waters. Another pathway is denitrification, where the NOx are getting oxidized to nitrous oxide (N2O) and dinitrogen (N2). During the denitrification process, substantial amounts of the N2O escape into the atmosphere which is one of the major contributors for ozone layer depletion and a more prominent greenhouse gas than CO2. In the same line, SOx are the key elements for acid rain and acidification of sea water. In order to tackle this grand challenge to convert oxidized form of N, S, and P, our group will focus to design catalytic systems to fix those oxidized species into their reduced forms such as ammonia, sulfide, and phosphine. Our approach is constructed on a two-legged strategy, in a first place we will engineer functional artificial proteins that will replicate to its best the active sites of the natural enzymes involved in the NOx transformations. The full-fledged structure-reactivity studies should lead to develop cost efficient synthetic systems holding the appropriate chemical functionalities to reproduce the unmatched catalytic power of natural enzymes. These studies will be conducted in homogeneous medium in a first place then the best catalysts would be subjected to heterogeneous catalysis through the design of hybrid electrodes. The understanding will be translated into tackling more complicated systems, SOx and POx...
Funding/Grant received
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SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowship from Swiss National Science Foundation: 01/12/2022-31/11/2024
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Post-doctoral Fellowship from CEA Paris-Saclay: 09/09/2021-08/11/2022
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Research Associate Fellowship from IACS Institute Fellowship Programme: 19/07/2021-09/09/2021
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Senior Research Fellowship from IACS Institute Fellowship Programme: 01/08/2019-31/03/2021
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Senior Research Fellowship (File No. 09/080(0931)/2014-EMR-I) from CSIR, Govt. of India: 01/08/2016-31/07/2019
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Junior Research Fellowship (File No. 09/080(0931)/2014-EMR-I) from CSIR, Govt. of India: 08/08/2014-31/07/2016
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Summer Research Internship Fellowship from DST-INSPIRE (File No. 574/2009), Govt. of India: 15/05/2013-16/07/2013
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International Travel Grant from DST-SERB, Govt. of India (File No. ITS/2018/000868): 2018
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International Travel Grant from CSIR, Govt. of India (File No. TG/10662/19-HRD): 2019
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International Travel Grant from IACS, Kolkata (OM No. 1.21835B dated 04.06.2019): 2019
Oral and Invited Presentations
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Delivered a “Oral Lecture” at the 30th International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry (ICOMC 2024) at Agra, India, 2024
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Delivered a “Short Invited Lecture” at the International Symposium On Frontiers In Sustainable Catalysis and Organometallics (FISCO 2024) at MNIT Jaipur, India, 2024
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Delivered a “Flash presentation” at GDR Solar Fuels Symposium at Frejus, France, 2022
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Delivered a “Flash presentation” at electronic Biological Inorganic Chemistry meeting (eBIC), 2021
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Delivered “Invited lecture” at Royal Society of Chemistry Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms Group (IRMG) 50th Anniversary Virtual Symposium, 2020
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Delivered a “Flash presentation” at 19th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC-19) at Interlaken, Switzerland, 2019
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Delivered “Invited lecture” at National Chemistry Scholars’ Colloquium (NCSC-2019) at IISER-Kolkata
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Delivered “Invited lecture” at 68th conference of Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry at Sendai, Japan
Conference and Workshop attended
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GDR Solar Fuels Symposium at Frejus, France: 2022
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44th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry at Rimini, Italy: 2022
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European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference at Grenoble, France: 2022
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Chemical Science Symposium: 2021
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Electronic Biological Inorganic Chemistry meeting (eBIC): 2021
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50th Anniversary Virtual Symposium by Royal Society of Chemistry Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms Group (IRMG): 2020
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Virtual LatinXChem: 2020
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1st Virtual International Symposium on C–H Activation (ISCHA) from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany: 2020
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Virtual Global Inorganic Discussion Weekday (GIDW) conference from Chemical Institute of Canada: 2020
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Industry-Academia Conclave on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells at IISER Thiruvananthapuram: 2020
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International Conference on Recent Trends in Catalysis (RTC2020) at NIT Calicut: 2020
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Inorganic Discussion Meeting at IISER, Kolkata: 2020
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Indo-French Symposium on Small-Molecule Activation for Fuels and Commodity Chemicals Production-IACS: 2019
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19th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry (ICBIC-19) at Interlaken, Switzerland: 2019
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National Chemistry Scholars’ Colloquium (NCSC-2019) at IISER-Kolkata: 2019
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43rd International Conference on Coordination Chemistry at Sendai, Japan: 2018
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68th conference of Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry at Sendai, Japan: 2018
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Frontiers in Metallobiochemistry Symposium (Poster Presentation) and Bioinorganic Workshop organized by Pennsylvania State University: 2018
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Frontiers in Inorganic Chemistry-II (FIC-II) symposium organized by IACS: 2018
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Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry (MTIC-XVII) jointly organized by NCL Pune and IISER Pune- Poster Presentation: 2017
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5th Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SABIC-2017) jointly organized by TIFR and IACS: 2017
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6th International Conference on Metals in Genetics, Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (ICMG-2016) organized by IISc, Bangalore- Poster Presentation-2016
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Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry (MTIC-XVI) organized by Jadavpur University- Poster Presentation-2015
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ACS on Campus organized by American Chemical Society at IIT Kharagpur: 2014
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Research Scholars Day at IIT Kharagpur: 2014
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International year of Chemistry organized by University Grants Commission (UGC) held at Presidency University, Kolkata and University of Calcutta: 2012
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Participation in Industrial Innovation: Industry-Academia Conclave on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells organized by DST (Govt. of India) at IISER Thiruvananthapuram-Poster presentation: 2020
Organisation of International Conferences
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5th Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SABIC-2017) jointly organized by TIFR and IACS; Organizing Member-Hall management, Travel, and Food: 2017
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Indo-French Symposium on Small-Molecule Activation For Fuels And Commodity Chemicals Production-IACS; Organizing Member-Hall management and Food: 2019
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Frontiers in Inorganic Chemistry-II symposium organized by IACS; Organizing Member-Food: 2018
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15th Inter College Chemi Quiz (National) held at Presidency College, Kolkata: 2011
Membership
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Swiss Chemical Society (2022-2024)
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American Chemical Society (2021-2022)
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Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2018-2019)
Areas of Responsibilities and Extra-Curricular Activities
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Electrochemistry, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and Glove box responsible at Copéret group: 2022-2024
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Student-in-charge of the central EPR facility from the CSS, IACS: 2018-2021
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Student-in-charge of the central CHN analyzer from the CSS, IACS: 2016-2017
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Independent reviewer for the peer-reviewed journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS; IF: 14.4), Small (Wiley; IF: 13.3), ACS Catalysis (ACS; IF: 13.08), Inorganic Chemistry (ACS; IF: 5.165), Biochemical Engineering Journal (Elsevier; IF: 3.978), Journal of Environmental Engineering (Elsevier; IF: 1.657)
Selected Publications (before joining iSm2)
Full publication list is available in Google Scholar
17. Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to CH3OH Catalyzed by an Iron Porphyrinoid, Paramita Saha, Sk Amanullah, Sudip Barman, and Abhishek Dey*, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 2, 1497–1507
16. Surface Coordination Chemistry of Graphitic Carbon Nitride from Ag Molecular Probes, Sk Amanullah,a Weicheng Cao,a Enzo Brack,a Milivoj Plodinec,b and Christophe Copéret,a* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202417428. Preprint available in ChemRxiv.
15. Second Coordination Sphere Effect Shifts CO2 to CO Reduction by Iron Porphyrin from Fe0 to FeI, Sk Amanullah,* Philipp Gotico, Marie Sircoglou, Winfried Leibl, Manuel J. Llansola-Portoles, Tania Tibiletti, Annamaria Quaranta, Zakaria Halime,* and Ally Aukauloo,* Angew. Chem.Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202314439.
14. Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of NO to NH3 by Iron Porphyrins at Physiologically Relevant Potentials, Paramita Saha, Sudip Barman, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, ACS Catal. 2023, 13, 20, 13181–13194.
13. Recent Developments in Synthesis of Bio-Inspired Iron Porphyrins for Small Molecule Activation, Sk Amanullah, ‡ Paramita Saha, ‡ Abhishek Dey*, Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 39, 5808-5828. [‡equal contribution]
12. Selectivity in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction, Paramita Saha, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, Acc. Chem. Res. 2022, 55, 2, 134-144 (featured as “most-read of the 12 months collection”).
11. O2 Reduction by Iron Porphyrins with Electron Withdrawing Groups: To Scale or not to Scale, Sk Amanullah, Paramita Saha, Abhishek Dey*, Faraday Discuss. 2022, 234, 143-158.
10. Activating Fe(I) State of Iron Porphyrinoid with Second-Sphere Proton Transfer Residues for Selective Reduction of CO2 to HCOOH via Fe(III/II)−COOH Intermediate(s), Sk Amanullah‡, Paramita Saha‡, Abhishek Dey*, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 34, 13579–13592. [‡equal contribution]
9. Biochemical and artificial pathways for the reduction of carbon dioxide, nitrite and the competing proton reduction: effect of 2nd sphere interactions in catalysis, Sk Amanullah, Paramita Saha, Abhijit Nayek, Md. Estak Ahmed, Abhishek Dey*, Chem. Soc. Rev. 2021, 50, 3755−3823.
8. Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrogen to Hydrazine Using a Trinuclear Nickel Complex, Paramita Saha, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 41, 17312–17317. . Preprint available in ChemRxiv.
7. The role of porphyrin peripheral substituents in determining the reactivities of ferrous nitrosyl species, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 5909–5921. (selected 2020 ChemSci Pick of the Week Collection and 2020 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection)
6. A bi-functional cobalt-porphyrinoid electrocatalyst: balance between overpotential and selectivity, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, J. Biol. Inorg. Chem., 2019, 24, 437–442.
5. Formally Ferric Heme Carbon Monoxide Adduct, Atanu Rana†, Sk Amanullah†, Pradip K. Das†, Ashley B. McQuarters‡, Nicolai Lehnert*‡, and Abhishek Dey*†, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019, 141 (13), 5073–5077.
4. Synthetic Iron Porphyrins for Probing the Differences in the Electronic Structures of Heme a3, Heme d, and Heme d1, Sk Amanullah, Paramita Saha, Rajat Saha, and Abhishek Dey*, Inorg. Chem., 2019, 58 (1), 152-164.
3. Tailor made iron porphyrins for investigating axial ligand and distal environment contributions to electronic structure and reactivity, Sk Amanullah, Asmita Singha, Abhishek Dey*, Coord. Chem. Rev., 2019, 386, 183-208.
2. Molecular electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction, Subal Dey, Biswajit Mondal, Sudipta Chatterjee, Atanu Rana, Sk Amanullah, Abhishek Dey*, Nat. Rev. Chem., 2017, 1, 98.
1. Tuning the thermodynamic onset potential of electrocatalytic O2 reduction reaction by synthetic iron–porphyrin complexes, Sk Amanullah, Pradip Kumar Das, Subhra Samanta and Abhishek Dey*, Chem. Commun., 2015, 51, 10010-10013.
Book Chapter(s):
1. Sk Amanullah, Chandradeep Ghosh, Abhishek Dey*, Somdatta Ghosh Dey*, Fundamentals of Porphyrin Chemistry: A 21st Century Approach (Volume 1), Chapter 16, Page: 709-722, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, ISBN 978-1-119-12931-8.
Media outreach
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Featured in "Science stories: Chemical Bonds" from EU Grants Access, Switzerland