# Oleg V. Ozerov
**Oleg V. Ozerov** is an organometallic chemist working in homogeneous catalysis, the Emile and Marta Schweikert Professor of Chemistry at [Texas A&M University](https://www.edgepedia.org/texas-a-and-m-university) in College Station.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) His research centers on pincer-ligand design for transition-metal catalysis and on carbon–fluorine bond activation by highly electrophilic main-group species, work recognized by the 2012 ACS Award in Pure Chemistry.[2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html) He was born in [Novosibirsk](https://www.edgepedia.org/novosibirsk), Russia in 1976 and grew up in the Akademgorodok district, a Siberian scientific center.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current position | Emile and Marta Schweikert Professor of Chemistry, Texas A&M University (professor since January 2009; professorship appointed 2018)[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) |
| Field | Organometallic and homogeneous catalysis chemistry; pincer complexes, C–H borylation, C–F activation[3](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/contact/profiles/oleg-ozerov.html) |
| Training | M.S., Higher Chemical College of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1998; Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 2000; postdoc, Indiana University, 2000–2002[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) |
| Signature work | "Hydrodefluorination of Perfluoroalkyl Groups Using Silylium-Carborane Catalysts," *Science*, 2008[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications) |
| Major awards | ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (2012); Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research (2012); Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (2007); Sloan Research Fellowship (2006)[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) |
| Career path | Brandeis University assistant professor 2002, tenure 2006; Texas A&M from 2009[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) |
## Education and career
Ozerov earned an M.S. at the Higher Chemical College of the [Russian Academy of Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-academy-of-sciences) in 1998. His undergraduate research took him to the laboratory of Nikolai Ustynyuk at INEOS.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) According to *C&EN*, he completed a Ph.D. at the [University of Kentucky](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-kentucky) in 2000 under Folami T. Ladipo, where his doctoral work examined the steric effects of modified calixarene ligands in titanium chemistry.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) • [2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html) He then spent two years, 2000 to 2002, as a postdoctoral associate at [Indiana University](https://www.edgepedia.org/indiana-university) with Kenneth G. Caulton, working on ruthenium and rhenium pincer chemistry.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov)
He joined [Brandeis University](https://www.edgepedia.org/brandeis-university) as an assistant professor of chemistry in July 2002 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2006.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) He was appointed to the Emile and Marta Schweikert Professorship in Chemistry in 2018.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) From 2013 to 2022 he served as an Associate Editor of *Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers*.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov)
## Research
The central tool of Ozerov's group is the pincer ligand: a chelating ligand designed to influence structure and reactivity at the metal center in a desirable way. Ozerov's group designs pincer-type and tripodal ligands to control structure and reactivity at metal centers, with applications that include aryl–aryl coupling, hydrogenation, aldol-type coupling, and [C–H borylation](https://www.edgepedia.org/c-h-borylation).[3](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/contact/profiles/oleg-ozerov.html) His PNP ligand system, a bis(phosphinoaryl)amine framework, has been described as especially well suited for studying small-molecule reactions at late-transition-metal centers.[2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html)
The second strand is carbon–fluorine bond activation. Conventional activation strategies rely on oxidative addition at a metal. Ozerov's approach, developed under a Department of Energy grant titled "New Horizons in C–F Activation by Main Group Electrophiles," instead cleaves the C–F bond by Lewis acid abstraction of fluoride, targeting [hydrodefluorination](https://www.edgepedia.org/hydrodefluorination) and other C–F conversions in polyfluoroalkanes under mild conditions.[5](https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc868799/) The electrophiles involved are silylium cations paired with weakly coordinating anions such as carboranes; this expertise extends to highly reactive cationic compounds across the periodic table.[3](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/contact/profiles/oleg-ozerov.html) When the fluoride abstraction is carried out in the presence of excess triethylsilane, the system becomes catalytic and promotes hydrodefluorination of a range of fluorinated substrates, with possible applications to destroying air pollutants such as CFCs and HFCs.[2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html)
A third strand is energy-conversion catalysis: homogeneous processes that convert simple feedstocks into chemical fuels, including biomass hydrogenation and catalysis of water and carbon dioxide electroreduction.[3](https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/contact/profiles/oleg-ozerov.html)
## Representative work
The 2008 *Science* paper ["Hydrodefluorination of Perfluoroalkyl Groups Using Silylium-Carborane Catalysts"](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1159979) showed that silylium ions carried on carborane anions can strip fluoride from perfluoroalkyl groups, and that in the presence of a hydride donor such as triethylsilane the process becomes a catalytic hydrodefluorination of C–F bonds.[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications) • [2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html) A 2010 follow-up in *JACS* extended silylium catalysis to hydrodefluorination and other hydrodehalogenation of aliphatic carbon–halogen bonds.[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications)
In boryl pincer chemistry, a 2017 *JACS* study reported ortho-regiospecific [C–H activation](https://www.edgepedia.org/c-h-activation) of pyridines in which the pyridine nitrogen coordinates not to the iridium metal but to a Lewis-acidic boryl ligand attached to it; this topology directs the metal to a different C–H bond than metal-coordination pathways do, and the group demonstrated subsequent C–C bond-forming functionalization, though the system did not achieve catalytic turnover.[6](https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10094985) A 2020 *JACS* paper reported unexpected B/Al transelementation within a rhodium pincer complex.[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications)
## Awards and honors
Ozerov received an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 2006, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award in 2007, and a Research Innovation Award in 2003.[1](https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov) In 2012 he received two honors: the ACS Award in Pure Chemistry, given for "the discovery of novel bond-making and bond-breaking reactions mediated by transition-metal and main-group compounds," and the Robert A. Welch Foundation's Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research, cited for groundbreaking contributions in organometallic and organofluorine chemistry.[2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html) • [7](https://welch1.org/awards/norman-hackerman-award-in-chemical-research/recipients/oleg-v-ozerov) He was 35 when the Pure Chemistry Award was announced.[2](https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html)
## Recent developments
The group's 2024 output continued both strands. The *JACS* paper "C–H Activation of Pyridines by Boryl Pincer Complexes" elucidated boryl-directed C–H oxidative addition at iridium and discovered transition-metal-assisted reductive elimination from boron at rhodium.[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications) Two further 2024 papers reported iridium complexes of a bis(N-pyrrolyl)boryl/bis(phosphine) PBP pincer ligand (*Inorganic Chemistry*) and osmium hydride PNP-pincer complexes with attempts at C–H borylation catalysis (*Organometallics*).[4](https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications)
## References
1. Oleg V. Ozerov | Ozerov Group. https://www.ozerovlab.org/oleg-ozerov
2. ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (C&EN, 2012). https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i8/ACS-Award-Pure-Chemistry.html
3. Oleg Ozerov | Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences. https://artsci.tamu.edu/chemistry/contact/profiles/oleg-ozerov.html
4. Publications | Ozerov Group. https://www.ozerovlab.org/publications
5. Final Technical Report: New Horizons in C–F Activation by Main Group Electrophiles. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc868799/
6. Selective ortho-C–H Activation of Pyridines Directed by the Lewis Acidic Boron of PBP Pincer Iridium Complexes (NSF PAR). https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10094985
7. Oleg V. Ozerov | Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research | Welch Foundation. https://welch1.org/awards/norman-hackerman-award-in-chemical-research/recipients/oleg-v-ozerov
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Chemists › Researchers in inorganic chemistry, catalysis, and electrochemistry › Homogeneous catalysis and organometallic chemistry › Surnames M to X*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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