Dr. Bikash Dev Nath, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, DUET, Gazipur

Dr. Bikash Dev Nath received his B.Sc (Hons.) and MS degree in Chemistry from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. He completed his MS thesis in the area of organometallic chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Shariff Enamul Kabir. He worked as a synthesis engineer (R &D) at Pilarquim (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China from 2011 to 2016 where he worked in the development of agrochemical products and completed several research projects. His major project works included: “(a) Synthesis of Glyphosate Acid (Herbicide), (b) Synthesis of Surfactant (Code Name PICO 800) for Glyphosate, (c) Glyphosate Formulation: Glyphosate-IPA, Glyphosate-Ammonia etc. (62% w/w, 68% w/w SL) and (d) Synthesis of Methyl Eugenol and Isoeugenol.” He obtained his PhD degree in 2019 from Okayama University, Japan under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Tadashi Ema. He conducted his doctoral research in the area of ‘metal complexes and catalysis.' In his doctoral thesis/research entitled “Novel Macrocyclic Multinuclear Ni(II) and Zn(II) Complexes for Catalytic CO2 Conversions”, Dr. Bikash synthesized novel macrocyclic multinuclear Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes by the self-assembly of binaphthyl-bipyridyl ligands and metal acetate hydrates. His demonstration of the catalytic activities of these metal complexes for the conversion of CO2 and epoxides into cyclic carbonates and for N-formylation/N-methylation of amines with CO2 and hydrosilanes under solvent free conditions is positively impacting the field. For example, this has been the first example of metal complexes exhibiting multitasking catalytic activities. His doctoral research is highly significant in the perspective of green chemistry which has been published in one of the most cited journals, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023 Journal Impact Factor: 16.1, 2023 Cite Score: 26.6) entitled “Unexpected Macrocyclic Multinuclear Zinc and Nickel Complexes that Function as Multitasking Catalysts for CO2 Fixations.” Dr. Bikash also worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Chemical Research Division of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka, Bangladesh where he conducted his research in the area of synthetic organic chemistry and the evaluation of catalytic and biological activities of the synthesized compounds, which was reflected on his two research project proposals at BCSIR namely, (i) “Biphenyl/Binaphthyl-Bipyridyl Based Organocatalysts for the conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals” and (ii) “Synthesis and Characterization of Schiff Base Derivatives of Chitosan and Amines and Study of their Biological Properties”. His overall research background also drew significant attention to Prof. Graham Murphy, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Ontario (ON), Canada who offered him a post-doctoral fellowship position in his lab (Murphy Lab) for conducting the research of synthetic methodology development in the area of deuterium chemistry, collaborative research between Murphy Lab, and deutraMedTM laboratories in Collingwood, Ontario (ON). Dr. Bikash has also obtained research grants from Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST, special research allocation, 2023-2024) and University Grant Commision (UGC) (Year: 2024-2025).