Alessandro Mandoli graduated in Chemistry in 1993, defending a Thesis carried out at the Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale of the University of Pisa (Italy) under the guidance of Prof. Dario Pini. The same year he received the Diploma Degree from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and, after a period dedicated to the use of advanced mass spectrometry techniques for the determination of environmental organic pollutants, he begun research work on new enantioselective catalytic systems for the attainment of the Ph. D. degree (1998).
After joining the group of Prof. Ben L. Feringa at the Rijksuniversiteit of Groningen (The Netherlands), in winter 1998-1999 he worked on the development of new chiral phosphoramidite ligands and related non-linear effects in the copper-catalysed enantioselective 1,4-addition to a,b-enones.
On returning to the Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale in Pisa, working in the field of organic stereochemistry, with a focus on the separation and characterization of chiral compounds (spectroscopic and chromatographic methods for structural elucidation and stereoisomer composition) and their synthesis in batch or under continuous-flow conditions. The continuing interest in metal-catalysed reactions has been accompanied in more recent years by strong emphasis on metal-free (organocatalitic) methods ad to the stereselective preparation of bio-active compounds.
Besides academic research, he is involved in collaborations with industrial partners, mainly from the pharmaceutical field.
A not negligible part of his time is spent in educational duties, which include teaching in MSc courses in Chemistry (at present: Laboratorio di Chimica Organica III and Sintesi Organiche Stereoselettive) and supervising BSc, MSc, and PhD students.