The Handbook of Homogeneous Hydrogenation

Kees Elsevier is Professor for Molecular Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam. He took up the John van Geuns chair (for 4 years) and was visting professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and the Universities of Strasbourg and Toulouse (France).
He has lately focused on Pd-catalyzed hydrogenations, involving N-ligands and N-heterocyclic carbenes, as well as catalysis involving aggregates (micelles and vesicles) of metallo-amphiphiles. Kees serves on the advisory board of several scientific journals and he is scientific director of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry. He has published more than 180 articles.

Hans de Vries is Principal Scientist Homogeneous Catalysis for Fine Chemicals at DSM, a multinational specialty chemicals company.
After a PhD from University of Groningen his next carrier steps were a postdoctoral stint at Brandeis University, Waltham, USA with Jim Hendrickson, and an employment at Sandoz in Vienna and in London. Besides he has been appointed professor at the University of Groningen, a visiting industrial professor at the Univeristy of Bristol, and at the Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg. His research interests are in the area of asymmetric hydrogenation, combinations of enzymes with transition metal catalysis, and more. He is author of many patents and over 100 publications.

Hans de Vries was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (1951). In 1979 he received his Ph.D from the University of Groningen, were he worked under the guidance of Richard M. Kellogg on chiral, bridged dihydropyridines as NADH-mimetics. After a postdoctoral stint at Brandeis University, Waltham, USA with Jim Hendrickson (total synthesis of Methoxatin or PQQ) from 79-81 he moved back to Europe. From 1982-1988 he worked as medicinal chemist for Sandoz, first in Vienna, afterwards in London. Being more interested in chemistry than drugs he moved back to the Netherlands, were he took up employment with DSM, a multinational specialty chemicals company. His current job is Principal Scientist Homogeneous Catalysis for Fine Chemicals. Since 1998 he has been appointed as part-time professor at the University of Groningen. In 2000 he was appointed visiting industrial professor at the Univeristy of Bristol. During 2005 he was a visiting professor at the Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg. His research interests are in the area of asymmetric hydrogenation (MonoPhos), aromatic substitution ("homeopathic" palladium), hydroformylation, metathesis, combinations of enzymes with transition metal catalysis, HTS, combinatorial catalysis and process intensification. He is (co-)author of 20 patents and over 100 publications. He is married and has three children.