Biographical Report

Pilar López-Ram-de-Viu, BS in chemistry (University of Zaragoza, 1987), received her Ph.D. (Ph.D. Thesis Award) from the same University in 1991 under the supersion of Dr. C. Cativiela and J.A. Mayoral. Between 1992-93 she took a post-doctoral position at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) of Paris under the supervision of Dr. L. Oliveros. After this period she rejoined the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, where she carried out teaching and research activities, first as Lecturer and later as Associate Professor.

Since 2000. she has taught multiples courses in Bachelor and Master of Chemistry. She currently teaches in the Degree in Chemistry, both in basic and compulsory subjects, as well as in the optional ones, through the four undergraduate courses, including lectures, practical classes and laboratory sessions.

Since the beginning of her professional activity, she has belonged to different University Research Institutes, and currently she is a member of the ISQCH (Institute of Chemical Synthesis and Homogeneous Catalyst). Her research interests focus on the synthesis of optically active compounds with potential biological activity in enantiomerically pure form, combining the use of different stereoselective synthetic strategies and resolution techniques. She has worked in the development of different chiral materials to using them in enantiomer resolution, and two patents were derived from these research activities. In the field of asymmetric synthesis, her current interest is organocatalysis. In particular, the organocatalyzed desymmetrization of meso compounds(e.g. diols, anhydrides, epoxydes) as an alternative to traditional enzymatic processes to obtain high-added value products with from renewable products like glycerol. In addition, she is interested in studying the differences in the chemical behavior of crude glycerol from biodiesel and pure glycerol in order to synthesize glycerol derivatives directly from raw samples.

Dr. López-Ram-de-Viu’s scientific production has been registered, so far, in 58 publications in international journals, all of them indexed in Web of Science, her h-index being 25.