Chemistry of Biology

Armin Börner taught as a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Rostock until 2020 and, after retirement, continues to work as a department head at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis. He has edited or self-authored several textbooks on special aspects of homogeneous catalysis. In 2001, he received the Descartes Prize of the European Union. His non-fiction book "Chemistry. Connections for Life" was awarded the 2021 Literature Prize of the Chemical Industry Fund.Juliana Zeidler studied chemistry and biology in Rostock until 2012 to become a teacher for grammar schools. After completing her teacher training in dual qualification, she taught at various schools in Graal-Müritz, Rostock and Bad Doberan. Since 2018, she has been working as a seconded teacher at the University of Rostock in chemistry didactics for the Teacher Training Center.

• The periodic table of elements and fundamental consequences for the structure of natural products and the operation of biochemical processes.- Extrinsic properties favoring the occurrence of elements in a biological context.- The derivatization of inorganic compounds with carbon residues.- The singular properties of carbon as the basis for the origin of life.- From chemical structures and single reactions to complex biochemical networks.- Determinacy, flexibility, and contingency in biochemistry.- "Synthesis chemistry" versus biochemistry.