Research Group Prof. Vondung
We are a young research group interested in fundamental actinide and lanthanide coordination chemistry, especially of uranium. Our work encompasses the synthesis of air- and moisture-sensitive coordination and organometallic compounds and their crystallographic and spectroscopic investigation, as well as investigation of their reactivity. Furthermore, we are interested in computational chemistry and employ quantum chemical methods to help us understand unusual bonding situations and reactivities.
News
2026
June: ICCC in Odense
Rupesh and Lisa took part in the 46th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC) in Odense, Denmark. Rupesh presented his work in a flash talk and a poster, and Lisa gave a talk on the group’s work on f-element phosphine complexes. Many thanks to the organisers for an inspiring conference!
May: Clementine joins the group as DAAD RISE intern
Funded through the DAAD RISE program, Clementine is starting her research internship with Christian, focusing on the synthesis of new chelators for lanthanide extraction. A warm welcome and lots of success!
April: Handover of responsibilities for the student research assistants
Since Philipp is almost finished with his studies, he is handing over his tasks as a student research assistant in the group to Michelle. Lots of success with your master’s thesis, Philipp, and thank you very much for your great work and support in the group! Welcome back, Michelle!
April: Richard starts as a postdoc
We welcome Richard, who joins the group as a postdoc to work on bimetallic uranium-containing complexes funded through the Karl Ziegler Young Scientist Award. We're happy to have you in the group and are looking forward to some exciting chemistry!
March: Conferences
In March, the group was present at various conferences: Lisa presented the group’s results on uranium nanoparticles in synthesis at the Chemiedozententagung in Essen. Rupesh shared his insights into disproportionation reactions of uranium complexes at the Koordinationschemietagung in Braunschweig. Christian was able to exchange ideas with other f-element enthusiasts at the f-element Spring School of the fenabium II project in Dresden. Léon and Lisa presented the reactivity and properties of uranium and lanthanide complexes with Cp ligands at the Ferrocene Colloquium in Hamburg. In addition, Lisa was invited by the GDCh and Chemistry Europe to participate in the Chemistry Europe Early Career Researchers Meeting in Weinheim. A heartfelt thank-you to all the organizers for the great conferences and meetings!
Februar: Leon defends his Master sthesis and Lorenzo his Bachelorthesis
Lorenzo successfully finished his Bachelor thesis on polymer-bound DO3A ligands and only a day later Leon successfully defended his Master thesis on dehydroborylation reactions using cobalt complexes. Congratulations to both and all the best for your Master studies and PhD!
February: New publication
In collaboration with Dr. Paul Jerabek from Hereon Geesthacht, we published a study on the influence of relativistic effects on the U–P bond in uranium–phosphine complexes in Molecular Physics. We also showed that the choice of method for including scalar relativistic effects has only a minor impact on the description of the bond. Congratulations to Jan-Erik, who carried out the majority of the study during his research internship!
January: Michelle defends her Bachelor thesis
Michelle has successfully finished her Bachelor thesis on uranium complexes with Cp/phosphine ligands and obtained her Bachelor's degree. Congratulations and all the best for your Master's studies!
2025
October: New publication
Leóns study on the pinacol coupling with uranium(III) complexes has been published in Zeitschrift für anorganische und angewandte Chemie. Congratulations!
October: We're searching for a postdoc!
We're looking for a postdoc to join the group for a project on bimetallic uranium complexes. The position is funded through a fellowship of the Karl-Zieger-Foundation. Further information and application can be found in the job portal. Deadline: 10 November 2025.
October: New publication
Christian's work on uranium(IV) complexes with NNS ligands has been published in Inorganica Chimica Acta. Congratulations!
October: Lorenzo starts his Bachelor thesis
Lorenzo has started with his Bachelor thesis with Christian Z. and will work on a new concept for Lanthanoid extraction. Welcome and good luck!
September/October: Conferences
The group participated in multiple conferences: First, Christian U. presented two talks at the annual meeting of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan and at the Asia-Pacific Symposium on Radiochemistry. At the end of September, jointly with the Burger and Jacobi von Wangelin groups, we organised the 25th Northern German PhD student Meeting in Hamburg. In early October, Rupesh, León and Christian Z. presented their work as posters and Lisa gave a talk at the Terrae Rarae conference in Karlsruhe.
September: Two new preprints
Christian and León's results on uranium complexes with NNS ligands, as well as uranium(III)-based pinacol coupling are now available as preprints on ChemRxiv.
July: Michelle starts her Bachelor thesis
Michelle started her Bachelor thesis with León. We are curious about some new ansa-complexes from the project!
June: Christian is awarded a PhD scholarship
Christian Z. has been awarded a PhD scholarship by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt and will join the team again in July to work on his PhD in the area of lanthanoid extraction. Congratulations to this achievement and welcome back
June: Pak started his internship and Leon his Master thesis
Pak joined us from London for a summer research internship. Leon joined the group for his Master thesis and will be working on d-metal complexes. Welcome and good luck to both!
May: Kelly joins the group for a RISE internship
Supported by the DAAD RISE program, Kelly has found her way from Canada to Hamburg for the summer and started her research internship with us. Welcome and have a successful and good time in Hamburg!
April: Seminar in Leicester
Lisa has been invited to give a talk at the University of Leicester (UK) and was also able to discuss chemistry with the academics and PhD students. Thank you for the warm welcome!
April: Christian is heading to Japan
Christian U. has been awarded with a 1-year scholarship by the DAAD for a collaborative research project in the group of Prof. Koichiro Takao at the Institute of Science Tokyo. Congratulations to this achievement and we're looking forward to some nice uranyl photochemistry!
March/April: Jan-Erik and Samuel start their internships
We welcome Jan-Erik and Samuel, who are joining the group for research internships on computational projects. Welcome and good luck!
March: Conference in Braunschweig
Lisa gave a talk at the Chemiedozententagung meeting at the TU Braunschweig on the group's results in the area of f-element phosphine complexes.
March: Christian finishes his Master thesis
Christian Z. has successfully finished and defended his Master thesis on lanthanoid complexes with S/O crown ethers. Congratulations!
2024
October: More conferences and awards
The group's conference marathon was finished in October: Jan presented the results of his Master thesis with a poster at the Terrae Rarae meeting in Stuttgart and had the chance to get some exciting insights into current topics in f-element chemistry. Christian, Rupesh and León travelled to Abu Dhabi to represent Europe in the world final of the Innovation4Nuclear competition. Their proposal on uranyl catalysis was received well and they won the competition! Big congratulations!
September: Conferences and awards
A successful month: Lisa gave a talk on the group's work at the MICRA conference in Leicester and Rupesh, León and Matilde presented their results with posters at the GDCh Inorganic Chemistry Conference in Munich. Christian gave a talk at the Norddeutsches Doktorandenkolloquium in Rostock and Rupesh and León presented their posters there. Christian's and Lisa's talks were both awarded with talk awards!
July: Matilde starts her DAAD-RISE internship
Matilde joins the group for the summer supported by the DAAD-RISE program. She will focus on novel routes to uranium halides. Welcome, good luck and enjoy your time in Hamburg!
June: Christian starts his Master thesis
We welcome Christian in the group for his Master thesis. He will be deep-diving into f-element crown ether complexes in a collaboration with the Abetz group.
May: The lab is finally up and running and David starts his research internship
After many delays the lab renovations are mostly done and the long awaited moving in day finally arrived. Perfect timing for David, who started his research internship in the group and had the honour of setting up the first reaction in the new labs!
March: Conference travels
The last week of February/first week of March the group was travelling a lot: Christian presented his current project with a poster at the 18th Coordination Chemistry Meeting in Innsbruck and obtained interesting insights in the current research in the area. León and Rupesh extended their knowledge on the chemistry of the f-elements at the f-elements spring school in Leipzig, where Lisa also gave a talk on the activation of small molecules with uranium.
February: León starts his PhD
After successfully finishing his Master's Thesis, we are happy that León is joining the team again as a PhD student. Welcome back!
January: Katalin starts her research internship
Katalin joined us from the Philipps-Universität Marburg for a research internship and will hopefully discover some nice Uranyl complexes in contrast to the grey Hamburg winter!
2023
October: Jan returns
Welcome back to Jan, who has joined the group again for his Master thesis at our Göttingen outpost. We are excited to see the chemistry coming from his endeavours into lanthanides!
September: Rupesh starts his PhD
We welcome Rupesh, who arrived to Hamburg to start his PhD in the group. We are happy to have you here and are looking forward to some nice chemistry!
May: León joins the group
León joined us for his Master thesis at the University of Hamburg. Exciting times and chemistry ahead!
May: Official start in Hamburg
As of May, the group now officially is part of the Institute of Inorganic and Applied Chemistry at the University of Hamburg. We will still be partially delocalised between Göttingen and Hamburg while the lab infrastructure is updated, but we are excited of what is to come!