
Overview
Background
Educated at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Australian National University, Canberra. Career at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Universität Marburg, Germany. Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry and Head of the Organic Chemistry Section, The University of Queensland from 1985. Emeritus professor from 2008. Chair of the National Committee for Chemistry of the Australian Academy of Science 2009-2014. Editor-in-Chief, Australian Journal of Chemistry 2008-15. Editor, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (Elsevier, IF 3.65) 2016-. Visiting Professor Université de Pau, France, 2011-19; Visiting Professor University of Kuwait 2014-18; Visiting Professor / Special Appointed Professor Hiroshima University 2014-18. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Centenary Medal of the Australian Commonwealth 2003 for research in organic and physical chemistry. David Craig Medal of the Academy of Science 2014 for research in chemistry. JSPS Fellowship (Japan) 2014. Honorary doctorate, University of Pau, France, 2014. A.J. Birch Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) for ecellence in research in organic chemistry, 2014. Leighton Medal of the RACI 2018.
Research on Unusual Molecules and Reactive Intermediates: Synthesis and Reaction Mechanism. Heterocyclic chemistry. Pyrolysis reactions. Photochemistry
Research in the Wentrup group is concerned with the discovery of novel types of molecules with new and unusual bonding patterns. Such molecules are mostly highly reactive, and special methods are required both for their generation and for their detection. The group has developed these methods over many years and acquired world-class equipment for these purposes, including flash vacuum thermolysis apparatus, cryostats for matrix isolation of reaction products at cryogenic temperatures (down to 7 K), matrix and solution photochemistry equipment, infrared, UV and mass spectrometers, as well as modern computational facilities.
This research has resulted in the synthesis and characterization of many novel compounds, including extended cumulenes of the types RN=C=C=C=X, which themselves are used in the synthesis of many novel types of molecules, some of them of potential pharmaceutical interest (quinolone antibiotics; diazepines).
The research group has a world reputation in the field of carbene and nitrene chemistry, involving reactive intermediates with sextet carbon or nitrogen. These species are also very useful in synthesis, for example in the preparation of diazepines and diazepinones, a family of pharmaceutically interesting compounds. Numerous mechanistic studies and synthetic applications of ketenes have been carried out in our group.
Active collaborations are ongoing with scientists in Australia (UQ and CSIRO), China (Suzhou), France (Pau), Germany (Oldenburg), Japan (Hiroshima), Spain (Donostia - San Sebastian), and Portugal (Coimbra).
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Curt Wentrup is:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
- Doctor of Philosophy of Science (Advanced), University of Copenhagen
- Doctoral Diploma, Institution to be confirmed
- Australian Academy of Science, Australian Academy of Science
- Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
Research interests
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Organic, physical, and historical chemistry
Reactive intermediates, pyrolysis, photochemistry, reaction mechanism. History of science.
Research impacts
This research leads to the development of new pharmaceuticals, e.g. new antibiotics (quinolones and naphthyridones) and new leads towards a treatment for scizophrenia (diazepine molecules).
Chemical industry has used our pyrolysis techniques in specialized manufacturing processes.
Our analytical/spectroscopic work has led to cooperation with chemical and energy firms and agencies involved in forensic science, and our research has generated collaborations with many scientists at universities in Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, and USA.
Works
Search Professor Curt Wentrup’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2023
Journal Article
Johann Rudolph Glauber: the royals’ alchemist and his secret recipes
Wentrup, Curt (2023). Johann Rudolph Glauber: the royals’ alchemist and his secret recipes. Foundations of Chemistry, 26 (1), 3-13. doi: 10.1007/s10698-023-09493-8
Featured
2023
Journal Article
CHNO – formylnitrene, cyanic, isocyanic, fulminic, and isofulminic acids and their interrelationships at DFT and CASPT2 levels of theory
Bégué, Didier, Lafargue-Dit-Hauret, William, Dargelos, Alain and Wentrup, Curt (2023). CHNO – formylnitrene, cyanic, isocyanic, fulminic, and isofulminic acids and their interrelationships at DFT and CASPT2 levels of theory. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 127 (43), 9088-9097. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c05805
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Chemistry, medicine, and gold‐making: Tycho Brahe, Helwig Dieterich, Otto Tachenius, and Johann Glauber
Wentrup, Curt (2022). Chemistry, medicine, and gold‐making: Tycho Brahe, Helwig Dieterich, Otto Tachenius, and Johann Glauber. ChemPlusChem, 88 (1), 1-24. doi: 10.1002/cplu.202200289
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Origins of organic chemistry and organic synthesis
Wentrup, Curt (2022). Origins of organic chemistry and organic synthesis. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2022 (25) e202101492. doi: 10.1002/ejoc.202101492
Featured
2020
Journal Article
Zeise, Liebig, Jensen, Hückel, Dewar, and the olefin π-complex bonds
Wentrup, Curt (2020). Zeise, Liebig, Jensen, Hückel, Dewar, and the olefin π-complex bonds. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 59 (22), 2-13. doi: 10.1002/anie.201913840
Featured
2019
Journal Article
Fulminating gold and silver
Wentrup, Curt (2019). Fulminating gold and silver. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58 (42), 14800-14808. doi: 10.1002/anie.201906356
Featured
2018
Journal Article
Carbenes and nitrenes: recent developments in fundamental chemistry
Wentrup, Curt (2018). Carbenes and nitrenes: recent developments in fundamental chemistry. Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), 57 (36), 11508-11521. doi: 10.1002/anie.201804863
Featured
2017
Journal Article
Flash vacuum pyrolysis - techniques and reactions
Wentrup, Curt (2017). Flash vacuum pyrolysis - techniques and reactions. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 56 (47), 14808-14835. doi: 10.1002/anie.201705118
Featured
2017
Journal Article
Flash vacuum pyrolysis of azides, triazoles, and tetrazoles
Wentrup, Curt (2017). Flash vacuum pyrolysis of azides, triazoles, and tetrazoles. Chemical Reviews, 117 (5), 4562-4623. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00738
Featured
2016
Journal Article
Ring contraction in arylcarbenes and arylnitrenes; the rearrangements of 1- and 3-isoquinolylcarbenes and 2-naphthylnitrene to cyanoindenes
Wentrup, Curt, Thétaz, Célestin, Luerssen, Holger, Aylward, Nigel and Kvaskoff, David (2016). Ring contraction in arylcarbenes and arylnitrenes; the rearrangements of 1- and 3-isoquinolylcarbenes and 2-naphthylnitrene to cyanoindenes. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 81 (11), 4601-4608. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.6b00442
Featured
2016
Journal Article
Rearrangements of 4‑quinolylcarbene, 3‑quinolylcarbene, and 2‑quinolylcarbene to 1 naphthylnitrene and cyanoindenes by falling solid flash vacuum pyrolysis
Aylward, Nigel, Kvaskoff, David, Becker, Jürgen and Wentrup, Curt (2016). Rearrangements of 4‑quinolylcarbene, 3‑quinolylcarbene, and 2‑quinolylcarbene to 1 naphthylnitrene and cyanoindenes by falling solid flash vacuum pyrolysis. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 81 (11), 4609-4615. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.6b00444
Featured
2016
Journal Article
Direct Observation of Carbamoylnitrenes
Li, Hongmin, Wan, Huabin, Wu, Zhuang, Li, Dingqing, Bégué, Didier, Wentrup, Curt and Zeng, Xiaoqing (2016). Direct Observation of Carbamoylnitrenes. Chemistry - A European Journal, 22 (23), 7856-7862. doi: 10.1002/chem.201600824
Featured
2015
Journal Article
Bond-shift isomers: The co-existence of allenic and propargylic phenylnitrile imines
Nunes, Claudio M., Reva, Igor, Fausto, Rui, Begue, Didier and Wentrup, Curt (2015). Bond-shift isomers: The co-existence of allenic and propargylic phenylnitrile imines. Chemical Communications, 51 (79), 14712-14715. doi: 10.1039/c5cc03518j
Featured
2015
Journal Article
Falling-solid flash vacuum pyrolysis: an efficient preparation of arylacetylenes1
Wentrup, Curt, Becker, Jurgen and Winter, Hans-Wilhelm (2015). Falling-solid flash vacuum pyrolysis: an efficient preparation of arylacetylenes1. Angewandte Chemie, 127 (19), 5794-5796. doi: 10.1002/ange.201412431
2024
Journal Article
Nitrile Imine Cyclizations and Rearrangements: <i>N</i>-Phenyl-<i>C</i>-styrylnitrile Imine and <i>N</i>-Phenyl-<i>C</i>-phenylethynylnitrile Imine
Miri, Maryam, Taherpour, Avat Arman and Wentrup, Curt (2024). Nitrile Imine Cyclizations and Rearrangements: N-Phenyl-C-styrylnitrile Imine and N-Phenyl-C-phenylethynylnitrile Imine. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 89 (13), 9360-9370. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.4c00570
2024
Journal Article
The transition from alchemical to modern chemical symbolism: from Bergman and Guiton de Morveau to Hassenfratz and Adet, Higgins, Richter, Dalton, and Berzelius
Wentrup, Curt (2024). The transition from alchemical to modern chemical symbolism: from Bergman and Guiton de Morveau to Hassenfratz and Adet, Higgins, Richter, Dalton, and Berzelius. ChemPlusChem, 89 (7) e202400033, e202400033. doi: 10.1002/cplu.202400033
2024
Journal Article
An introduction to the 10th Anniversary collection of RACI and AAS Award papers
Wentrup, Curt (2024). An introduction to the 10th Anniversary collection of RACI and AAS Award papers. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 77 (10) CH24128. doi: 10.1071/CH24128
2023
Journal Article
Formation of (aza)fulvenallene, cyanocyclopentadiene, and (aza)fluorenes in the thermal rearrangements of indazoles, azaindazoles, and homoquinolinic anhydride
Mirzaei, M. Saeed and Wentrup, Curt (2023). Formation of (aza)fulvenallene, cyanocyclopentadiene, and (aza)fluorenes in the thermal rearrangements of indazoles, azaindazoles, and homoquinolinic anhydride. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 89 (1), 553-564. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c02289
2023
Journal Article
Celebrating RACI and Academy of Science awards 2022–23
Wentrup, Curt (2023). Celebrating RACI and Academy of Science awards 2022–23. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 76 (10), 633-634. doi: 10.1071/ch23183
2023
Journal Article
The alchemist, metal‐divider and transmuter Carl F. Wenzel and his 1776 award from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences through Professor C. G. Kratzenstein
Wentrup, Curt (2023). The alchemist, metal‐divider and transmuter Carl F. Wenzel and his 1776 award from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences through Professor C. G. Kratzenstein. ChemPlusChem, 88 (5) e202300091, 1-11. doi: 10.1002/cplu.202300091
Funding
Supervision
Availability
- Emeritus Professor Curt Wentrup is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Completed supervision
-
2006
Doctor Philosophy
SYNTHESES AND REACTIONS OF IMINOPROPADIENONES, SYDNONES AND OXAZINONES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Williams
-
2002
Doctor Philosophy
HETEROCYCLIC SYNTHESIS BASED ON IMINOPROPADIENONES
Principal Advisor
-
2002
Doctor Philosophy
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISATION OF 1,3- and 1,4- DIAZEPINES AND DERIVATIVES
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
NITRENES REARRANGEMENTS: FORMATION OF REACTIVE INTERMEDIATES AND UNUSUAL MOLECULES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Williams
Media
Enquiries
Contact Emeritus Professor Curt Wentrup directly for media enquiries about:
- Organic reaction mechanisms
- Photochemistry
- Pyrolysis
- Reactive intermediates
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