Present Members
Wangyu Shi
PhD Student
Wangyu received his BSc and MSc from China Agricultural University (the latter in 2021). His MSc work centered on organo- and transition metal-catalyzed annulation/allylic alkylation reactions and was supervised by Profs. Xuefeng Li and Hongchao Guo. He joined ICIQ and the Kleij team in January 2021, and started his PhD work on the catalytic valorization of carbon dioxide into functionalized synthons for fine-chemical and pharmaceutical development, and polymerizable monomers derived from larger-ring heterocycles. E-mail contact: wshi@iciq.es
Chenyang Chang
PhD Student, CSC fellow
Chenyang obtained her BSc from Hangzhou Normal University under the supervision of Prof . Jian Zhou, and her MSc (in organic chemistry, 2022) at Soochow University (China) working in the group of Prof. Chen Zhu. In January 2023, she joined the Kleij laboratory at ICIQ in Tarragona and is currently involved in the design and implementation of new catalytic cascade transformations using bifunctional hydroxy/oxirane-modified cyclic substrates. E-mail contact: cchang@iciq.es
Fengyun Gao
PhD Student, CSC fellow
Fengyun finished her BSc in pharmaceutical science at Qinghai University in 2016, and continued her MSc at Lanzhou University (China) in pharmacology and concluded this phase in 2020 working with Profs. Kairong Wang and Wenjin Yan focusing on asymmetric organocatalysis. Then in November 2021 she moved to ICIQ to start her PhD studies under the guidance of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij, and her work centers on the use of Pd-catalysis for stereoselective synthesis from functionalized heterocycles, and Co/photoredox dual catalysis for stereoselective cross-coupling reactions. E-mail contact: fgao@iciq.es
Stephanie Amos
Postdoctoral researcher, PID2020-112684GB-100
Stephanie finished her MSc (2017) in chemistry with projects carried out as an intern at (1) the École Polytechinque Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in laboratory of catalysis and organic synthesis the under the supervision of Prof. Jérôme Waser and Dr. Stefano Nicolai focusing on sulfenate alkynylation with EBX reagents, and (2) at the University Claude Bernard of Lyon 1 working on vinylation of amides and valorization of levullinic acid in the group of Prof. Bruno Andrioletti. She started her PhD in 2018 at the EPFL with Jérôme Waser as advisor developing photochemical alkynylations using hypervalent iodine reagents. After finishing her PhD (2022), she joined the team of Prof. Vy Dong (University of California Irvine, US) as a postdoctoral fellow advancing sustainable-metal catalysis in the context of novel acylations. In April 2024, she moved to ICIQ and joined the Kleij laboratory where she currently expands her knowledge in the area of sustainable and stereoselective synthesis. E-mail contact: samos@iciq.es
Yingying Wang
PhD student, ICIQ
Yingying got her BSc in 2018 with a Chemistry major from Henan University (Kaifeng, China) under the supervision of Professor Ji-ya Fu. Then she continued as an MSc student in Organic Chemistry working with Profs. Zikun Wang and Xihe Bi at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at Northeast Normal University (Jilin, China). In 2021, she became a science teacher of the Chunhua Education Group (Shangding Branch) in the Zhengdong New District (Henan, China), before accepting her current position as a PhD student at ICIQ. Here, she is co-supervised by the Bo and Kleij group, with a focus on the computational analysis of carbon dioxide catalysis related processes. E-mail contact: yingyingwang@iciq.es
Alejandro Delgado
PhD Student, FPI fellow
Alejandro obtained his BSc and MSc (2020) from the Universidad de Valencia (UV; Spain), after which he was a lab technician in the faculty of pharmacy (UV, 2021) and a research associate at Eurofins Villapharma (2022) before he moved to ICIQ in January 2023 to start his PhD in the group of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij. Currently, he is developing asymmetric catalysis processes promoted by transition metals using allylic and propargylic precursors based on heterocyclic precursors. E-mail contact: adelgado@iciq.es
Angel Antunez
PhD Student, FPI/SO fellow
Angel started his career at the Universidad del País Vasco (Spain), where he obtained his BSc (2021) and MSc (2022). His graduation work focused on the use of chiral Brønsted bases for asymmetric Aldol catalysis. In March 2024 he initiated his thesis work at ICIQ working under the co-supervision of Prof. Mónica Pérez Temprano and Prof. Arjan W. Kleij with as major objective the use of (low-valent) Co-complexes to discover new reactivity patterns and mechanistic pathways in the area of allylic functionalization. E-mail contact: aantunez@iciq.es
Natalia Kulbacka
PhD Student, D-Carbonize
Natalia received her MSc in chemical technology from the Warsaw University of Technology (Poland) in 2021 working on the synthesis on new polycations containing alcohol groups with potential antimicrobial properties. She then held various positions including Chemistry Researcher at Green Goods Invest (Warsaw, Poland, 2021), PhD position in the Department of Nano-Biotechnology (Warsaw University of Life Sciences, until April 2022) and as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2023). In October 2023, she accepted a PhD position in the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize and joined ICIQ and the group of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij (co-supervisor: Dr. Sophie Guillaume, U-Rennes/CNRS, France). Her work combines the use of catalysis, biomass utilization and new monomer development to contribute to a circular use of carbon-based resources. E-mail contact: nkulbacka@iciq.es
Enrico Lanaro
PhD Student, D-Carbonize
Enrico graduated in Chemistry in October 2022 at the University of Padova (Italy) under the supervision of Professor Giulia Licini. His thesis project focused on light-induced oxidative cleavage of vicinal diols promoted by vanadium aminotriphenolate complexes. He then continued as a Laboratory Technician at Columbia SRL (Sandrigo, Italy; until 2023), working on the synthesis of polyacrylamide polymers and designing new processes for the production of cationic monomers. In October 2023, she accepted a PhD position in the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize and joined ICIQ and the group of Prof. Arjan W. Kleij (co-supervisor: Prof. Stephen Hashmi, U-Heidelberg, Germany). His focus is on the design, synthesis and reuse of biobased polycarbonates using catalysis as a key enabling technology and to develop a wider polymer re/upcycling strategy. E-mail contact: elanaro@iciq.es
Angelo Scopano
PhD Student, D-Carbonize
Angelo received his BSc (2019) and MSc (2021) in Chemistry from the University of Padova (Italy). His MSc project centered on a novel benzylic photocarboxylation method using carbon dioxide. Thereafter he was, inter alia, a Project Manager of EU projects at the University of Padova and a Regulatory Affairs Intern at Reckitt Benckiser (Milano, Italy) before embarking on his PhD studies. He joined the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) through the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize in January 2024. There, he is supervised by Prof. Paolo Pescarmona and co-supervised by Prof. Arjan W. Kleij, and developing new heterogeneous catalysis based processes for the tandem oxidation/carbonation of sustainable feedstock towards value-added commodities such as CO2-based heterocycles. E-mail: ascopano@iciq.es, a.scopano@rug.nl
Lilas Aubel
Descripción:
Lilas has a background in chemistry and physics. She holds an MSc in Chemistry (2023) with an emphasis on polymer science and green chemistry from the Graduate School of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics of Bordeaux (ENSCBP) in France. She joined the CESAM Research Unit of the University of Liège in the Department of Chemistry in October 2023 through the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize, and is jointly supervised by Dr. Christophe Detrembleur and Prof. Arjan W. Kleij. Her interests are mainly focused on the synthesis of sustainable (polycarbonate) polymers and materials useful in the context of food packaging and biobased degradable latexes. Her activities zoom in on the catalytic production and recycling of polycarbonates. E-mail contact: laubel@iciq.es, Lilas.Aubel@uliege.be
Sara Faoro
PhD Student, D-Carbonize
Sara received her BSc in chemistry from the School of Chemistry at the University of Padova (Italy, 2021), and her MSc from Master Degree in low carbon technologies and sustainable Chemistry from the School of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Bologna (Italy, 2023). She joined the CESAM Research Unit of the University of Liège in the Department of Chemistry in April 2024 through the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize, and is jointly supervised by Dr. Christophe Detrembleur and Prof. Arjan W. Kleij. Her research activities focus on both sustainable polymer synthesis and recycling through controlled degradation and/or repurposing approaches producing value-added heterocycles or novel macromolecular architectures. E-mail contact: sfaoro@iciq.es, Sara.Faoro@uliege.be
Owais Sheikh
PhD Student, D-Carbonize
Owais earned both his BSc (2022) and MSc (2023) in chemistry from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). His BSc research work was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Ji-Woong Lee focusing on new catalytic method development for complex organic molecules, whereas this MSc assignment was carried out with Prof. Michael Pittelkow designing large aromatic compounds and studying their properties. He joined the University of Heidelberg/CarLa and the group of Prof. Stephen Hashmi in October 2023 through the EU-funded joint doctoral network D-Carbonize, and is jointly supervised by Prof. Arjan W. Kleij. His focus is on developing new ways to recycle polymers via (catalytic) hydrogenative approaches. E-mail contact: owais.sheikh.ahmed@oci.uni-heidelberg.de, osheikh@iciq.es
Philipp Fricke
Master Intern
Philipp is currently a MSc Student of Chemistry at the University of Tübingen (Germany). He holds a BSc from the University of Regensburg (Germany) in Business Chemistry, and spent a semester at the University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, Canada). His research experience spans the chemistry of phthalocyanines and impedance measurements of pesticides to evaluate their cytotoxicity. In October 2025, he joined the Kleij laboratory as a master intern. E-mail contact: pfricke@iciq.es
Yue Ren
PhD Student
Yue obtained both her BSc (2020) and MSc (2024, with Prof. Hongchao Guo) in chemistry from the China Agricultural University working on organo- and transition-metal catalyzed annulation/allylic alkylation reactions focusing on the design and application of novel acceptors for cycloaddition chemistry. From October 2024 onwards, she forms part of the Kleij laboratory at ICIQ in Tarragona (Spain), where her main objective is the design and implementation of stereoselective protocols utilizing functionalized heterocycles as precursors. E-mail contact: yren@iciq.es
Davide Rigo
Postdoctoral Researcher, Marie Curie fellow
Davide obtained his MSc (2018) in Sustainable Chemistry and Technologies from the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia (Venice, Italy) under the supervision of Prof. Maurizio Selva. Then, he was part of a Joint Doctorate in Chemistry (PhD in 2022) between the Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia (Italy), the University of Sydney (Australia) and the Università degli studi di Trieste (Italy) with Maurizio Selva and Thomas Maschmeyer as advisors. Following postdoctoral appointments at Aalto University (up to 2024, Espoo, Finland) working with Mikhail Balakshin and Monika Österberg, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at Golden (up to 2025, CO, United States) with Gregg Beckham as advisor, he joined the Kleij laboratory in June 2025 as a MSCA postdoctoral fellow to work on catalytic upgrading of biomass and novel macromolecular applications. E-mail contact: drigo@iciq.es
Giona Armellin
PhD student
Giona finished his BSc in 2022 at the University of Padova with an internship in the group of Prof. Cristiano Zonta working on the functionalization of self-assembled supramolecular structures. During his BSc, he also spent time as a visiting student in the group of Prof. Karl Anker Jorgensen at the University of Aarhus (Denmark). After his BSc, he joined the group of Prof. Luca Dell´Amico at the same university and worked during his masters (2024-2025) on the synthesis of fluorinated azetidines enabled by photochemical strain-release strategies. In July 2025, he joined the Kleij laboratory as an FPI-funded PhD student with a focus on Co-mediated stereoselective catalysis. E-mail contact: garmellin@iciq.es