Pablo González-Herrero

Academic biography

   Pablo González Herrero completed his PhD at the University of Murcia (UMU) under the supervision of Profs. J. Vicente and M. T. Chicote (1994–1997), supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education. During this period, he carried out two short research stays abroad: at the University of Würzburg (Germany) under Prof. H. Werner, and at the University of California, Berkeley, under Prof. R. G. Bergman. The most notable results of his doctoral work include the synthesis of the first hydrogensulfido and trithiocarbonato gold complexes, some of which are now featured in widely used inorganic chemistry textbooks.

In May 1998, he began a postdoctoral stay at the University of Würzburg under Prof. H. Werner, funded by a Marie Curie Research Training Grant from the European Commission’s Training and Mobility of Researchers Programme. He subsequently remained in Würzburg for a further 10 months as a contracted researcher. During this time, he obtained significant results in the chemistry of ruthenium vinylidene, carbene, and carbyne complexes.

In March 2001, he was awarded a fellowship from Fundación Séneca (Región de Murcia) to return to UMU. Later that year, in November 2001, he was appointed under the Ramón y Cajal programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. In 2006, he obtained a permanent position at UMU as Research Professor (Profesor Contratado Doctor) within the I3 Programme, and in February 2010 he was promoted to Associate Professor (Profesor Titular).

After rejoining UMU, he developed his research within Prof. Vicente’s group, focusing on the synthesis, structural characterization, and photophysical studies of coordination complexes of gold, silver, copper, palladium, and platinum, including heterometallic derivatives, as well as on the chemistry of arylpalladium complexes. Up to 2013, his research was carried out in collaboration with Prof. Vicente.

Since 2014, his work has centered on the photophysics and photochemistry of cyclometalated platinum complexes. This research has yielded major advances, including the synthesis and comprehensive study of the first series of strongly luminescent cyclometalated Pt(IV) complexes, and the discovery of an unprecedented photoinduced C–H activation process in cyclometalated Pt(II) complexes. He has developed recognized expertise in photoactive compounds and in the interpretation of their excited-state properties, combining photophysical techniques, electrochemistry, and quantum-chemical calculations.