Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel Sierra

21Miguel Ángel Sierra Rodriguez

Born 1960 (Villamiel-Toledo) Miguel A. Sierra obtained is Bachelor in Organic Chemistry in 1982. B. A. with an overall A+ grade, and his Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry (Cum Laude, Honors, UCM Ph.D excellence award) in 1987. He was appointed Profesor Ayudante in 1987 and, after a post-doctoral stay in Colorado State University (1988-1989) in the laboratories of Prof. Louis S. Hegedus (research in Organic Synthesis Mediated by Organochromium Compounds), came back to Spain where in 1990 he obtained a permanent position at the UCM as Profesor Titular of Organic Chemistry. He was promoted to Catedrático Habilitado de Química Orgánica in 2003 and to Catedrático de Química Orgánica in 2005. Currently, he is the leader of the Bio-Organometallic Chemistry Group of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (CAM) and coordinates the Advanced Catalysis Program of the CAM (AVANCAT).

He has published 158 scientific articles, three books and 5 patents, with two products for correcting iron-chlorosis already in the market (Ultraferro®, and Tarvox®) and a third compound (DCHA) now in the pilot plant.

Prof. Sierra consults the NBQ laboratory and the Energetic Materials laboratory of the Spanish Ministery of Defense, and simultaneously develops joint research projects with both laboratories, as well as with several agrochemical companies.

He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) (2003-2009), the Chairman of the TWG on Sampling and Analysis of the OPCW (2004-2007). He is the Secretary of the Organic Group of the Spanish ChemicalSociety, he has been a member of the board of this Society (2006-2012), and an Honorary Member of the Sociedad Química Argentina. He was awarded (2003) the Military Cross with white ribbon. He acts as regular referee for the world top journals of general, organic, organometallic and inorganic chemistry, the National Science Foundation and the Petroleum Research Found administrated by the American Chemical Society, and different Spanish Evaluation Agencies.

Prof. Sierra research interest ranges from the study of the mechanisms of transition metal mediated organic and organometallic transformations, with special emphasis in the behavior of densely functionalized organic systems towards organometallic reagents, the reactivity in non- conventional media, the synthesis of bio-organometallic compounds, the mechanisms of Fe- capture by plants and the design and synthesis of energetic materials.