# Ingo Krossing
**Ingo Krossing** is known for weakly coordinating anions, including the anion class named after him, for unified acidity and redox scales that make solution measurements comparable across solvents, and for applying ionic-liquid and anion chemistry to battery electrolytes. He has received multiple [European Research Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-research-council) (ERC) Advanced Grants and is a member of the Leopoldina and the [Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities](https://www.edgepedia.org/heidelberg-academy-of-sciences-and-humanities).[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) • [2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) • [3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Current position | Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry; Chair of Molecular and Coordination Chemistry, University of Freiburg, since 2006[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) |
| Training | Chemistry and doctorate at LMU Munich (PhD 1997, with Prof. H. Nöth); postdoc with Prof. J. Passmore, University of New Brunswick, 1997–1999[4](https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/) |
| Signature work | The 2004 *Angewandte Chemie* survey of noncoordinating anions; the 2013 *Science* crystal structure of the 2-norbornyl cation[5](https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200300620) • [6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019) |
| Named contribution | The "Krossing anion" [Al(ORF)4]−, which creates pseudo-gas-phase conditions and stabilizes novel cations[3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf) |
| Major funding | ERC Advanced Grants UniChem (2012) and InnoChem (2.5 million euros over five years)[2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) |
| Academies | Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2018); Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences (2020)[2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) |
| Latest honor | Marianne-Baudler-Preis of the German Chemical Society, endowed with 7,500 euros, presented 7 September 2026 in Jena[3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf) |
## Career and training
Krossing studied chemistry at LMU Munich from 1988 to 1994, completing his diploma, and finished his doctoral thesis there in 1997 under Prof. H. Nöth.[4](https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/) From 1997 to 1999 he worked as a [Feodor Lynen](https://www.edgepedia.org/feodor-lynen) postdoctoral fellow with Prof. J. Passmore at the [University of New Brunswick](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-new-brunswick) in [Fredericton](https://www.edgepedia.org/fredericton), Canada.[4](https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/)
He completed his habilitation (German postdoctoral qualification for university professorship) in inorganic chemistry at the Universität Karlsruhe (now the [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology](https://www.edgepedia.org/karlsruhe-institute-of-technology)) from June 1999 to June 2002, supported first by a Liebig fellowship, and later by a DFG-Heisenberg fellowship, and stayed on as a private lecturer until September 2004.[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) • [4](https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/) From October 2004 to March 2006 he was an assistant professor at the EPF Lausanne in Switzerland.[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) According to livMatS, in April 2006 he took up the Freiburg chair, which he has held since.[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) • [2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) Since 2011 he has also been Scientific Director of the Freiburg Academy of Science and Technology.[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner)
## Representative work
Two papers stand for the two sides of his research, anion design and the extreme cations it enables.
The 2004 review *Noncoordinating Anions, Fact or Fiction? A Survey of Likely Candidates*, published in *Angewandte Chemie International Edition* (volume 43, pages 2066–2090), systematically assessed candidate anion classes, including aluminates and carboranes, for their ability to avoid coordinating to the cations they pair with.[5](https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200300620) Its foundation was the perfluoroalkoxyaluminate weakly coordinating anion [Al(ORF)4]− introduced in a 2001 *Chemistry, A European Journal* paper; according to Krossing's 2014 author profile, at least 50 groups worldwide use this anion class, which is commercially available through the company IoLiTec.[6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019)
The 2013 *Science* paper reported the crystal structure of the nonclassical 2-norbornyl cation, crystallized as the salt [C7H11]+[Al2Br7]−, a question contested for decades. Determining the structure required the extreme acidity of the HBr/AlBr3 superacidic system, which the weakly coordinating environment made possible.[6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019)
## Weakly coordinating anions and unified scales
A weakly coordinating anion interacts only minimally with its counter-cation. The effect is to approximate gas-phase conditions inside a salt crystal or solution, which lets reactive cations survive that would otherwise rearrange or decompose; the German Chemical Society credits the "Krossing anion" with creating such pseudo-gas-phase conditions and stabilizing novel cations.[3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf) One result his group pursued for 13 years was the first homopolyatomic phosphorus cation in condensed phases, reported in 2012 as the salt [P9]+[Al(ORF)4]−.[6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019)
The same anion chemistry underpins his measurement program for solution energetics. A DFG project on non-oxidizing superacids established a new universal acidity scale, the absolute chemical potential of the proton in solution.[7](https://gepris.dfg.de/project/5413589) In 2010 his group proposed, together with co-authors, "A Unified pH Scale for All Phases" in *Angewandte Chemie*.[6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019) His first ERC Advanced Grant, awarded in 2012 for the project UniChem, extended the idea to a uniform redox scale for comparing the electrochemical potentials of all substances.[2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) His second ERC Advanced Grant, InnoChem, funded with 2.5 million euros over five years, seeks to measure these energetics without extra-thermodynamic assumptions and addresses the long-standing problem of single-ion thermodynamics.[2](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale) A related DFG project, WCA-Cluster, studies polyatomic clusters of group 15 to 18 elements as salts of weakly coordinating anions.[8](https://gepris.dfg.de/project/281091989) In 2022 his group reported in *Chemical Science* an innocent deelectronating reagent derived from an anthracene derivative, with a half-step potential of 1.42 volts versus Fc0/+, that converts polynuclear metal carbonyls into their homoleptic complex cations.[9](https://kommunikation.uni-freiburg.de/pm-en/press-releases-2022/chemists-develop-new-reagent-for-deelectronation)
## Battery and electrolyte research
Krossing's group applies ionic-liquid thermodynamics and anion design to energy storage. According to Krossing's 2006 *Journal of the American Chemical Society* paper *Why Are Ionic Liquids Liquid?*, ionic-liquid phase changes were explained through a Born–Fajans–Haber cycle, leading to models predicting melting points, viscosities, and conductivities.[6](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019)
In 2010 his team at the Freiburg Materials Research Center launched the Merck Battery Materials Lab with Merck KGaA to develop new conducting salts for lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric cars: his group supplied the theory and laboratory-scale synthesis, while Merck optimized the electrolytes and tested their longevity for industrial production.[10](https://www.myscience.de/de/news/wire/fuer_die_mobilitaet_der_zukunft-2010-uni-freiburg) From 2012 to 2019 he was a member of the BASF Scientific Network on [Electrochemistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/electrochemistry) and Batteries, and in 2006 he joined the Scientific Advisory Board of the ionic-liquid company IoLiTec.[4](https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/) His patents include a 2004 method for producing salts of weakly coordinating anions and a 2013 application on lithium alkoxyborates and alkoxyaluminates as conducting salts in lithium-sulfur battery electrolytes.[11](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/molchem/publications/patents-stat) Recent work covers aluminum batteries with a two-electron phenothiazine redox polymer positive electrode (2023), a 2022 study of a candidate electrolyte salt for magnesium-ion batteries, and low-concentration electrolytes based on weakly coordinating anions for lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries.[12](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/people/principal-investigators/ingo-krossing) • [13](https://www.krossing-group.de/research/publications/)
## Funding, honors and service
His laboratory is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Germany's Excellence Strategy within the livMatS cluster (EXC-2193/1 – 390951807), in addition to the individual DFG and ERC grants.[12](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/people/principal-investigators/ingo-krossing) Earlier honors include the Akademiepreis für Chemie of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences (November 2004) and the Otto-Klung-Weberbank-Preis (October 2006).[1](https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner) He served many years on the board of the Wöhler-Vereinigung and is a member of the DFG Fachforum Chemie.[3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf)
## Recent developments
Two 2025 papers mark the group's recent record. In *Advanced Energy Materials* (15(13), article 2403195) it reported realistic full cells with protected lithium-metal anodes using an adaptive self-healing artificial solid-electrolyte interphase, with Krossing as corresponding author.[12](https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/people/principal-investigators/ingo-krossing) • [13](https://www.krossing-group.de/research/publications/) In *Angewandte Chemie International Edition* (e202507494, accepted as a VIP paper) it crystallized a cationic manganese(I) pentane σ-complex from solution, promoting alkane binding.[13](https://www.krossing-group.de/research/publications/) In September 2026 the German Chemical Society awarded him the Marianne-Baudler-Preis, endowed with 7,500 euros, for his research across molecular chemistry, from the Krossing anion through acidity scales, redox chemistry, electrochemical energy storage, and heterogeneous catalysis; the prize was presented on 7 September 2026 at the GDCh Conference on Inorganic Chemistry at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.[3](https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf)
## References
1. CV Ingo Krossing, Lehrstuhl für Molekül- und Koordinationschemie, University of Freiburg. https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/lehrstuhl/cv_owner
2. Chemist Ingo Krossing receives the ERC Advanced Grant for the construction of a universally applicable redox scale, livMatS, University of Freiburg. https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/news-press/chemist-ingo-krossing-receives-the-erc-advanced-grant-for-the-construction-of-a-universally-applicable-redox-scale
3. GDCh ehrt Ingo Krossing und Vito Capriati (Press release 15/26). https://en-archiv.gdch.de/fileadmin/downloads/Service_und_Informationen/Presse_OEffentlichkeitsarbeit/PDF/PM2026/Pressemitteilung_15_26.pdf
4. Curriculum Vitae Ingo Krossing, Krossing Group. https://www.krossing-group.de/ikrossing/
5. Noncoordinating Anions, Fact or Fiction? A Survey of Likely Candidates, *Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.* 2004, 43, 2066–2090. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200300620
6. Ingo Krossing, Angewandte Chemie Author Profile (2014). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201403019
7. DFG GEPRIS project 5413589, Nichtoxidierende Supersäuren. https://gepris.dfg.de/project/5413589
8. DFG GEPRIS project 281091989, WCA-Cluster. https://gepris.dfg.de/project/281091989
9. Chemists develop new reagent for deelectronation, University of Freiburg press release (2022). https://kommunikation.uni-freiburg.de/pm-en/press-releases-2022/chemists-develop-new-reagent-for-deelectronation
10. Für die Mobilität der Zukunft, myscience.de (2010). https://www.myscience.de/de/news/wire/fuer_die_mobilitaet_der_zukunft-2010-uni-freiburg
11. Patents, Lehrstuhl für Molekül- und Koordinationschemie. https://www.molchem.uni-freiburg.de/molchem/publications/patents-stat
12. Prof. Dr. Ingo Krossing, livMatS principal investigator page. https://www.livmats.uni-freiburg.de/en/people/principal-investigators/ingo-krossing
13. Publications, Krossing Group. https://www.krossing-group.de/research/publications/
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Chemists › Researchers in inorganic chemistry, catalysis, and electrochemistry › Main-group and p-block chemistry*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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