We’re proud to share that team CiTOS was well represented at the Flow Chemistry Europe conference 2023.

JC showed us how to “Make nitroso reagents great again“; Loïc presented a poster on the preparation of APIs from bio-based materials; and Anita took home a poster prize for her work on the spatiotemporally-controlled photogeneration of nitrosocarbonyl compounds. And the entire team had a wonderful time learning of all the excellent work being done on flow chemistry throughout the world.

Tuesday, May 23rd was a very exciting day here at CiTOS. We had the visit of 20 students of the Université du troisième âge (U3A) at our facilities. All CiTOS members made their best efforts to show our dear visitors the best of our work and the future of chemistry research here at the lab. The sincere interest and attention of these amazing students we really encouraging and inspired us to keep doing our best to keep  sharing the passion of moving science forward.

A few photos are the best evidence of the great day shared between the U3A and CiTOS.

Spring at CiTOS resulted in the arrival of another postdoctoral researcher,
Hubert Hellwig! Hubert is with us since the beginning of April. He defended his PhD at the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland). He also worked for 2.5 years at Adamed Pharma S.A., where he began his adventure with flow chemistry. Hubert’s research focuses on the project supported by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Continuous Drug Substance Manufacturing from Biomass-derived Building Blocks”. He will work on the development of automated continuous flow synthesis systems for the production of active pharmaceutical substances.

CiTOS was present in the Solvay workshop, April 24-26, 2023! Michele participated, Pauline presented a poster with her most recent results, and JC was an invited speaker for an oral presentation. The entire workshop was characterized by excellent talks discussing some of the most exciting advances in chemistry worldwide. We’re happy to have been part of this event and look forward to developing the new collaborations initiated these days.

CiTOS was present at the April 2023 edition of the Corning Workshop! Dr. Monbaliu presented some of our recent work, including research in flow chemistry and developments of the Corning Qualified Laboratory hosted here at CiTOS. He also had a chance to present the launching of FlowW4all, a service platform supporting the industry in the effort to incorporate flow chemistry to industrial processes.

He was accompanied this time by Dr. Diana Silva, scientific manager of FloW4all, who participated in the workshop and had the opportunity to discuss with many of our collaborators at Corning as well as the participants of the workshop.

Today CiTOS opened its doors to the participants of the Journée enseignement secondaire at ULiege. Dr. Monbaliu, Loic and Pauline organized a few hours of entertaining explanations about chemistry for our visitors. These young participants had the opportunity to learn about the work done here at CiTOS and explore our laboratories during both morning and evening sessions.

We wish these young students the best of luck in their future studies, and hope some will come back in the future to join us  in the pursuit of chemistry and new developments in organic synthesis and technology.

We continue to work hard at CiTOS to make the 18th BOSS symposium a week to remember! Speakers are confirmed, additional sponsors and funding is arriving, cultural and social events are being explored… There is always something new on the table! You can take a look at the flyer here!

Keep up to date by following #BOSS_symposium and #BOSSXVIII. And better yet, follow the CiTOS LinkedIn page (linkedin.com/company/citos-lab) to keep up to date with all the latest news!

Hope to see you on June 30, 2024!

2023 at CiTOS began with the visit of Dr. Gabriela Oksdath! Gabriela is a researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba (Argentina). Her research interest includes the development of greener, scalable and innovative approaches to prepare compounds of interest. She specializes in combining different types of catalysis (Photocatalysis, Metal Catalysis, Biocatalysis) under homogeneous or heterogeneous conditions.

Gabriela came to CiTOS to get expand her expertise in flow chemistry with hands-on experience in the use of Corning(R) Photoreactors. We’re happy to have a fellow chemist join the team and wish her a great stay in Liege.

Congratulations to Elyse and Sebastian, who have successfully defended their Master’s thesis on Jan 18!

Elyse worked along side Pauline on the preparation of nitrosoarenes from aniline derivatives. After optimization of the batch procedure, a flow system was established allowing the scalable preparation of the compounds. With the help of computations, a comparison could be established between the oxidation potential of the compounds and the reaction temperature.

Sebastian, in collaboration with Yuesu, explained the unusual stoichiometry observed in the formation of nitroso compounds from N2O3 by performing a through computational study. Furthermore, he demonstrated the applicability of the synthesized N-nitroso glycine for the preparation of syndones. In collaboration with Claire, CO2 was used to produce glycerol carbonate from glycidol. His contribution was especially significant for the computational work of the project.

We’re proud to have two new masters alumni from CiTOS, we wish them the best of luck in their future internships and look forward to working together in the near future.

We’re looking forward to receiving applications from candidates for two postdoctoral positions here at CiTOS!

By working at CiTOS, the selected candidates will be engaged in a competitive research environment, within a multidisciplinary team including synthetic chemists and chemical engineers. They will enjoy direct access to the most recent flow reactor technologies from Corning AFR and an internal analytical platform (LC, LC-MS, GC, GC-MS, benchtop NMR, IR, UV, etc.). Our large network of industrial collaborators stimulates research toward concrete industrial and/or societal challenges, making this a unique opportunity for candidates aspiring to continue either towards careers in academia or industry.

A first position is open as part of an ongoing collaboration with PENNAKEM, a leader for the production of bio-based solvents and fine chemicals.

A second position stems from an international consortium under the umbrella of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This research program aims at continuous drug substance manufacturing from biomass-derived building blocks. (Eligible candidates for this position must not have spent more than 24 months (for study or research/professional reasons) in Belgium for the past 3 years, regardless of citizenship, and must have obtained their PhD degree within less than 10 years at the time of the application.)

For these position, a PhD in organic chemistry is required, with a background in flow technology and preferably an interest for bio-based chemicals.

Interested candidates please send electronic applications including (a) a cover letter, (b) a curriculum vitae, (c) a short statement on your motivation and career objectives, and (d) the names and contact details of 3 professional references to Prof. Jean-Christophe M. Monbaliu (jc.monbaliu@uliege.be)

Review of applications will begin on January 1, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled.