The Backer-KNCV Prize is awarded annually to the best PhD thesis in the field of organic chemistry that was defended in The Netherlands. The Committee consisted of Sander van Kasteren (Chair), Ilja Voets, Martin Wolffs and Tati Fernández-Ibáñez; experts in a wide range of disciplines within the organic chemistry field.

In total, 29 theses were submitted. The submitted theses were judged based on the scientific quality, the relevance of the research, the clarity and structure of the thesis and their contributions to the field of organic chemistry. The jury was impressed with the quality of the candidates. After intense deliberations, the jury has decided to award the 2016 Backer-KNCV prize to Mu-Chieh Chang for his PhD-thesis titled ‘Formazanate as a Redox-Active, Structurally Versatile Ligand Platform’. The study was conducted at the University of Groningen under the guidance of Prof. Edwin Otten.

The thesis by Mu-Chieh Chang deals with the synthesis and discovery of new redox-active ligands, namely formazanates. Metal complexes bearing redox-active ligands can perform catalytic redox reactions that are not possible with conventional ligands, opening new pathways in synthesis and catalysis. The research done by Mu-Chieh Chang has established the redox-active feature of formazanate ligands. To achieve this, the synthesis and characterization of the free ligand and their metal complexes were developed using state-of-the-art techniques and the redox properties of the formazanate ligands were proven by electrochemical methods. The jury was impressed not only with the innovative approach, but also by the thoroughness of the science and quantity of work.

Besides the outstanding quality of the research, the layout of the thesis and the apparent simplicity and clarity of the text convinced the jury to declare this thesis as the winner of the 2016 Backer-KNCV prize.

The award ceremony will take place during CHAINS 2017, in December 2017.