Born: Kottayam, Kerala
M.Sc. Madras Christian College, Ph.D. IIT Madras, 1989
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow 1990 (Prof. H. W. Roesky), University of Goettingen, Germany
Post Doctoral Fellow and Visiting Professor, 1992, 1999 (Prof. J. M. Shreeve), University of Idaho, USA
Asst. and Assoc. Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 1993-2002
Associate Professor and Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 2002-2017
Professor HAG (Higher Administrative Grade), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, 2017 to date
Institute Chair Professor, IIT Delhi, January 2020 to date
Awards & Recognitions
1. Recipient: "Best chemistry teacher award 2013" awarded by Tata chemicals, Royal society of chemistry, ACT, CII, and Godrej.
2. Recipient: "INSA teachers awards 2012" awarded by Indian National Science Academy for excellence in teaching science & inspiring students.
3. Recipient: Teaching excellence award, IIT Delhi, 2014, for undergraduate teaching.
Author of three textbooks for the IIT program
1. A collection of Interesting General Chemistry Experiments, 2002 and 2007, Universities Press.
2. Basic Organometallic Chemistry: Concepts, Syntheses and Applications of Transition metals, 2010 & 2103, CRC Press and Universities Press (along with Prof. B.D Gupta, IIT Kanpur).
3. The chemistry of the p-block elements: Syntheses, reactions, and applications, 2018, Universities Press.
Research Interests
Main Group Chemistry, Organometallic chemistry, and Catalysis.
The current focus of the research group is mainly on the synthesis and exploration of the catalytic activity of organometallic compounds, main group compounds, and transition metal complexes. Emphasis is placed on using sustainable methodologies in catalysis such as using water as the solvent and earth-abundant elements and compounds as catalysts.
Selected Publications
1. Synthesis, characterization and catalysis of water-soluble trimeric and monomeric palladium complexes of 8-aminoquinolines
Pritam Dolui, Ashutosh Verma, Parul Saini, Abhishek Nair, Sajesh P Thomas, Anil J. Elias,
Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2022 , https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.202200559
2. Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Alcohols and Transfer Hydrogenation of Aldehydes in Water Using a Single Bifunctional, Bistate, Water-soluble Ruthenium Catalyst
Susanta Hazra, Abhishek Nair, Pritam Dolui, Ekta Malik, Anil J. Elias,
Chem. Asian. J. 2022 , https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.202200883
3. A Catalyst and Solvent Free Route for the Synthesis of N-Substituted Pyrrolidones from Levulinic Acid
Pritam Dolui, Vikas Tiwari, Parul Saini, Tarak Karmakar, Koushik Makhal, Harshita Goel, Anil J. Elias,
Chem. Eur. J. 2022 , https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202200829
4. Directing group enabled ‘On-Water’ C–H bond functionalization of ferrocene derivatives
Ashutosh Verma, Pritam Dolui, Susanta Hazra and Anil J. Elias,
J. Organomet. Chem. 2022, 964, 122303 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jorganchem.2022.122303
5. How did the fluoride get into your toothpaste? The chemistry behind adding fluoride in dentifrices for preventing dental decay
Anil J. Elias,
Resonance 2022, 27, 0000 ,
6. External Catalyst-Free Oxidation of Benzyl Halides to Benzoic Acids Using NaOH/TBHP in Water
Parul Saini, Anandhu Krishnan, Deepak Yadav, Susanta Hazra and Anil J. Elias,
Asian J. Org.Chem. 2021, 10, 2355–2359 , https://doi.org/10.1002/ajoc.202100390
Group Members
Pritam Dolui (Ph.D.)
Ashutosh Verma (Ph.D.)
Parul Saini (Ph.D.)
Abhishek Nair (Ph.D.)
Ekta (M.Sc.)