The Sánchez-Delgado Research Group at Brooklyn College 




Roberto A. Sánchez-Delgado, Ph.D.
Professor

Inorganic Chemistry Sub-discipline Chair of the CUNY Ph.D. Program
at The Graduate Center


Department of Chemistry
   Brooklyn College
     2900 Bedford Avenue
       Brooklyn, NY 11210

          Telephone: 1-718-951-5000 Ext. 2827 (office)
 Ext. 5748 or 18900 (Lab)
       e-mail address: Rsdelgado@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Research

Sánchez-Delgado’s research, collected in over 130 articles, 4 patents and one book, is mainly concerned with medicinal chemistry and catalysis.

Sánchez-Delgado and his coworkers aim to discover new chemotherapeutic agents for chloroquine-resistant malaria, other parasitic tropical diseases like Chagas and leishmaniasis, and cancer. This work includes the synthesis and evaluation of new aminoquinolines, tri- and tetra-oxanes, hybrid molecules, and organometallic compounds. The mechanisms of malaria drug resistance and of biological action of the new compounds are also investigated by use of a variety of physical, chemical, biochemical, and computational methods.

The group has also extensively studied homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation reactions, as well as organometallic models of surface species and reactions relevant to hydrotreatment, particularly hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). In recent work, emphasis has been placed on solid nanostructured catalysts for hydrogenation reactions of interest in the manufacture of cleaner fossil fuels, hydrogenation/dehydrogenation of N-heterocycles for hydrogen storage in organic liquids, and homogeneous and heterogeneous C-O bond activation reactions of biofuel components.


Education
B.Sc. in Chemistry with Honors (1973) and Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry (1976), Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, Doctoral Thesis adviser: Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson (Nobel Laureate 1973) (Development of ruthenium hydroformylation catalysts).

Postdoctoral research associate
(with Prof. John A. Osborn) at Louis Pasteur University Strasbourg, France (1976-1977) (Chemistry of zirconium hydrides and alkyls).
Career
  • Brooklyn College CUNY, Associate Professor 2004-2008; Professor 2008-present
  • Chemistry Center of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), Caracas, Assistant Professor (1977-85), Associate Professor (1985-1988) and Full Professor (1989-2004).
  • Visiting Professor at the Universities of Ulm, Zaragoza, Seville, Berkeley, Columbia, International Center for Science and Technology, Trieste, Institute of Catalysis CNRS in Lyon, and Natural Museum of Natural History, Paris.
  • Member of the Special Commission (UNSCOM) of the United Nations for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction of Iraq (1991-99).
Awards
  • Claire Tow Distinguished Teacher Award for the year 2012-2013
  • Leonard and Claire Tow Professor (2007-2009) at Brooklyn College CUNY
  • Venezuelan National Prize in Science (1999)
  • John Simon Guggenheim Fellow (1998)
  • Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury Award in Science from the Polar Foundation, Caracas (1989)
  • Manuel Noriega Morales Award in Physical Sciences from the Organization of American States (1987)
  • Member of the Venezuelan Academy of Sciences and of the Latin American Academy of Science