DR. SEKAR, G.

Prof. G. Sekar obtained his Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur in 1999 (Guide: Padma Shri, Prof. V. K. Singh). Dr. Sekar was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow (with Prof. H. Nishiyama) at TUT, Japan, and an AvH postdoctoral fellow (with Prof. L. F. Tietze) at Goettingen University, Germany. He also conducted postdoctoral research (with Prof. Brian M. Stoltz ) at Caltech, USA. Prof. Sekar was a visiting professor at EPFL, Switzerland, during May-July 2023.

Prof. Sekar’s research activity on organic synthesis focuses on developing new synthetic methodologies employing environmentally benign homogeneous catalysts, metal nanocatalysts, and halogen bonding catalysis.

Prof. Sekar is the author of 147 publications and 17 patents (granted/filed), has graduated 29 Ph.D. students, and is presently guiding 12 Ph.D. scholars.  He is the recipient of the IIT Madras Institute Chair Professorship, the Senior Scientist Award-2021 by the Academy of Sciences Chennai, the CRSI bronze medal-2015, and the Institute Research and Development Award (Mid-Career)-2017. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc, 2025), National Academy of Sciences (FNASc, 2019), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Chennai (FASCh). He is also the Joint Secretary of the CRSI Chemical Research Society of India.

Prof. Sekar is a member of SERB PAC for Special Call Proposals (Chemical Sciences). Also, he was the co-opted member of SERB organic chemistry PAC, Selection Committee Member of DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships, SERB expert committee member for the Centre of Excellence on “Sustainable and Affordable Synthetic Strategies towards APIs, co-opted member of DST-SERB SUPRA projects screening committee, and President of IIT Madras Faculty Association. Presently, he is the Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Chemical Sciences and Associate Editor of Frontiers in Chemistry (Catalytic Reactions and Chemistry).

 Domino Synthesis of Thioindirubin via Aldol Condensation/C–S Cross-Coupling/Cyclization Reaction Using Xanthate as a Sulfur Surrogate (Palanisamy Soundarya, Sayan Pahan, Govindasamy Sekar), Lett. 2025, 27, 2031−2036.

 Domino 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition/Ring-Opening/Ring-Cleavage: Synthesis of Trisubstituted Pyrrole and Chiral Dihydropyrrole-3-Carbaldehydes (Solai Pandidurai, Maddala Chinababu, and Govindasamy Sekar), Comm., 2025, 61, 5806.

Selective oxidation of alkylarenes to aromatic acids/ketone in water by using reusable binaphthyl stabilized Pt nanoparticles (Pt-BNP) as a catalyst, Saha, R.; Sekar, G., Applied Catalysis B:  Environmental, 2019, 250, 325. (highlighted in “The Hindu” national English newspaper (31st March 2019)

Metal-free halogen(I) catalysts for the oxidation of aryl(heteroaryl)methanes to ketones or esters: Selectivity control by halogen bonding, Somraj Guha, Sekar, G.,  Eur. J.2018, 24, 14171.

An efficient synthesis of polysubstituted olefins using stable palladium nanocatalyst: Applications in the synthesis of tamoxifen and iso-combretastatin A4, Ganapathy, D.,  Sekar, G.,  Lett.2014, 16, 3856.

  Galactose oxidase model: biomimetic, enantiomer-differentiating oxidation of alcohols by chiral copper complex, Alamsetti, S. K., Mannam, S., Muthupandi, P., Sekar, G.,  Eur. J.2009, 15, 1086.