Jan-Erling Backvall is Professor of Organic Chemistry at Stockholm University, where he is Head of the Research. He is renowned for his contribution to organopalladium chemistry and catalytic oxidation reactions where he has done mechanistic work and developed new reactions. More recently efficient systems for dynamic kinetic resolution of alcohols based on combined ruthenium and enzyme catalysis were developed in his laboratory. Jan-Erling Backvall has published about 380 papers. For his contribution to research he was elected a Member of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, am Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sciences, Sweden, a Member of "Fysiografiska sallskapet" Sweden and a Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and received many prizes, awards and honors.
