One of these is the development of the Fischer–Tropsch process through the efforts of Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in 1925 when the institute was still organized as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Kohlenforschung.

Since 1999, the group concentrates on enantioselective organocatalysis as a fundamental approach complementing biocatalysis and transition metal catalysis.

Long-term projects of current interest concern alkene and alkyne metathesis, the development and use of pi-acids (platinum, gold etc.

Moreover, the group is engaged in the development of novel donor ligands, including carbenes and compounds containing formally "zerovalent" carbon atoms.

[7] The Department of Molecular Theory and Spectroscopy, led by Frank Neese, focuses on theoretical developments that extend the scope of computational methodology, especially for large molecules, and applies theoretical methods to study specific chemical problems, mostly in close cooperation with experimental partners.