Alessio Porta-Associate Professor

Alessio Porta is Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Pavia. His research focuses on natural products, organometallic chemistry, asymmetric catalysis, biocatalysis, and the circular economy. In recent years, his work has emphasized the upcycling of rare-earth elements as catalysts for sustainable organic transformations, a promising direction in green and circular chemistry.Prof. Porta earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the University of Pavia in 2005, following a research collaboration with Vanderbilt University (USA) on oxidative stress biomarkers. Since joining the University of Pavia, he has contributed to more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and two international patents related to prostaglandin synthesis. His collaborations include long-term partnerships with leading groups such as that of Prof. Steven P. Nolan (University of St Andrews, UK).He has supervised numerous master’s and doctoral theses and teaches Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia.

Selected Grants and Funding

Prof. Porta has been involved in several national and regional projects bridging academic and applied research, including:

• Recycling of Ferromagnets WEEE Containing Rare Earths: Transforming Unproductive Waste to High-Added-Value Catalysts – Principal Investigator, (2022), €115k total.
• L’Eccellenza Attraverso la Scienza: Approccio Teranostico all’Osteosarcoma, Cariplo Foundation Grant (2015), €376k total.
• Exploring Directed C–H Activation in Molecular Synthesis, Cariplo Foundation Grant (2016), €88.5k total.

Prof. Porta’s research combines innovative catalysis with sustainability, contributing to the advancement of synthetic organic chemistry in alignment with circular economy principles.