Andreas Pfaltz studied at ETH Zurich, completing his undergraduate diploma in natural sciences in 1972 and his PhD in organic chemistry in 1978.
[1] Following a two-year postdoctoral position at Columbia University (early 1978 – late 1979), working for Gilbert Stork on the synthesis of Rifamycin,[2] he returned to ETH Zurich as a lecturer and began his own research.
Between 1995 and 1998 he was a director of the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, afterwards returning to the University of Basel, where he has remained till the present day.
Pfaltz's early research was influenced by his PhD supervisor Albert Eschenmoser and was largely based around the synthesis of corrins,[3] porphyrins[4] and other macrocycles.
[7][8] His current research activities remain focused on ligand development, asymmetric catalysis and catalyst screening.