About Luca

Luca Dell’Amico was born in Carrara, Italy, north of Tuscany – the city of the white marble. He started his studies in Parma, Italy, where the musics of the “Maestro” Giuseppe Verdi were the perfect inspiration. In 2010, he completed his M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry at the Parma University under the supervision of Prof. Giovanni Casiraghi, working on the development of novel eco-friendly vinylogous methods. Fascinated by synthetic chemistry and by the principle of vinylogy, in the same year he started his PhD in “Stereoselective Synthesis of Biologically Active Compounds” under the supervision of Prof. Franca Zanardi. In 2013, he spent a ten-months research period at the Center for Catalysis of Århus Univesity, Denmark, where he was introduced to the field of organocatalysis by Prof. Karl Anker Jørgensen. Luca completed his PhD with highest honours and the Doctor Europaeus mention at the Parma University in 2014. Shortly after, he moved to the ICIQ, Tarragona, Catalunya, joining the group of Prof. Paolo Melchiorre as a Marie-Curie cofund fellow. During this time he worked on the development of novel stereoselective light-driven processes, mainly based on the photochemical generation of reactive nucleophilic species. In the end of 2016 he started his independent career at the Padova University as an assistant professor (tenure track) and member of the NanoMolCat group. The same year he started a close collaboration with Dr. Xavier Companyó, developing new research lines in stereoselective catalysis. His current research spans from the development of stereoselective photochemical processes to the investigation of novel organocatalytic methods using renewables.

Selected awards and distinctions

2020    Thieme Chemistry Journals Award [link]

2019     National Scientific Abilitation as Associate Professor

2019     Giacomo Ciamician Medal – From the Italian Chemical Society [link]

2018     Secretary of the European Winter School in Physical Organic Chemistry

2018     Chemical Communication Emerging investigator Issue [link]

2014     Marie-Curie cofund Fellowship – At ICIQ, Tarragona, Spain