M. Sc. Bernd Rienhoff
Focus of work
- Homogeneously catalyzed amination reactions
- Isolation / purification of primary amines
- Crystallization
- Continuous reaction performance
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Curriculum Vitae
Bernd Rienhoff started studying chemistry at TU Dortmund at the department of chemistry and chemical biology in Oct. 2017 and finished his bachelor thesis with the topic “Synthesis of xanthene-based pyrrole-functionalised ligands and investigation of their performance in hydroaminomethylation” in 2020.
He continued with his master studies at TU Dortmund and received the “Deutschlandstipendium” scholarship first from RAG-Stiftung and then from BASF SE between Feb. 2021 and Mar. 2022.In 2022 he finished his master’s degree after three semesters with the thesis “Hydrocyanation by Enhanced Nickel-Lewis-Acid-Cooperativity Using BiPhePhos and Investigation of the Influence of Promoters” at the chair of Industrial Chemistry (TC).
He joined the chair of Industrial Chemistry as a research associate in May 2022.
Research Topic
Primary amines are an important class of chemical substances and are utilized in pharmaceuticals, cleaning agents and agrochemicals. The major challenge in their production is the formation of different amine species that have to be separated from each other in complex processes. The use of homogeneous catalysts offers a selective alternative, but here the challenge is shifted to the separation of the product from the usually expensive catalyst. Ideally, the catalyst should be reused/recycled and from an economic and ecological point of view, this represents an obstacle to widespread use that was not satisfactory addressed yet. The aim of this work is to develop an efficient purification and separation strategy for primary amines using CO2 and to transfer the homogeneously catalyzed reaction process from batch to continuous operation.
Publications
- Rienhoff, B., Nickel, D., Römer, S., von Vietinghoff, N., Pietschmann, D., and Seidensticker, T. (2026) “Turning an Intrinsically Inefficient Reaction Efficient: Homogeneously Catalyzed Continuous-Flow Amination of Alcohols with Ammonia“, Catal. Sci. Technol., accepted, DOI: 0.1039/d6cy00384b.
- Rienhoff, B., Oppenberg, N., Zolthoff, F., Vogt, D., Seidensticker, T., (2025)" Selective Ammonium Carbamate Crystallization: An Innovative Approach for Catalyst Recycling in Homogeneously Catalyzed Primary Amine Synthesis" ChemCatChem, e00989, DOI: 10.1002/cctc.202500989.
- Rienhoff, B., Mede, D., Schöler, M., Vogt, D., Seidensticker, T., (2025) “Selective and Waste-Free Isolation of High Purity Primary Amines from Amine and Reaction Mixtures by Selective Ammonium Carbamate Crystallization” Chem. Eur. J. 2025, e202500059. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202500059.
- Köhler, T., Rienhoff, B., Vogt, D., (2024) "Nickel(BiPhePhos)-Catalyzed Hydrocyanation of Styrene—Highly Increased Catalytic Activity by Optimized Operational Procedures" Catalysts, 14(3), 210, DOI: 10.3390/catal14030210.
- Bernd Rienhoff, Dario Nickel, Sidonie Römer, Dominik Pietschmann, Niclas von Vietinghoff, Dieter Vogt, Thomas Seidensticker, “Intensified Primary Amine Synthesis Through Continuously Operated Alcohol Amination“, Flow Chemistry Europe, Malaga, April 2026.
- Bernd Rienhoff, Dario Nickel, Sidonie Römer, Dieter Vogt, Thomas Seidensticker, “Intensified Primary Amine Synthesis Through Continuously Operated Alcohol Amination“, GeCatS Infoday - From Flow Chemistry to Continuous Processes: New Alternatives for Chemical Production on Laboratory and Ton Scale, Frankfurt (Main), December 2025.
- Bernd Rienhoff, Nadine Oppenberg, Felix Zolthoff, Dieter Vogt, Thomas Seidensticker, “CO2 Assisted Primary Amine Isolation and Catalyst Recycling in the Homogeneously Catalyzed Nitrile Hydrogenation and Alcohol Amination“, DGMK Conference, Hydrogen and Syngas - Platform for a Sustainable Future, Essen, October 2025.
- Bernd Rienhoff, Dilara Mede, Dieter Vogt, Thomas Seidensticker, “CO2-Induced Separation of Pri-mary Amines from Amine-Mixtures and Homogeneous Catalyst-Containing Reaction Mixtures: Selective Ammonium-Carbamate Crystallization”, GDCh, Jahrestagung der FG Nachhaltige Chemie, Mühlheim (Ruhr), September 2024.
- Bernd Rienhoff, D. N. Sellmann, R. Alkhatib, D. Vogt, T. Seidensticker, “Combination of Switchable Solvents and Catalysts for High Reactivity and Efficient Product / Catalyst Separation”, International Symposium on Homogeneous Catalysis, Trieste, July 2024.
- Bernd Rienhoff, David Noah Sellmann, Dieter Vogt, Thomas Seidensticker, “CO2 Enhanced Thermo¬morphic Multiphase System (TMS) for Efficient Catalyst Separation in the Homogenously Catalyzed Telomerization of Bio-Based β-Myrcene”, 57. Jahrestreffen Deutscher Katalytiker, Weimar, March 2024.
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