Information
  • Designation: Professor (HEC Approved Supervisor)
  • Specialization: Inorganic Chemistry
  • Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Phone: +92-51-9064-2108
  • Links: Prof. Dr. M. Naveed Zafar - ‪Google Scholar
  • Ph.D.: The University of Auckland, New Zealand, with Prof. Dr. L. J. Wright
  • PhD Research Title: “Development of New Ligands for Transition Metal Homogeneous Catalysts”

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Spectator Ligand Design: Donor flexible, Redox Active, Non-innocent, Multifunctional & Supramolecules
  • Molecular Synthesis of Coordination Complexes & Organometallics (Schlenk Line Synthesis)
  • Proton Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) Catalysis such as CO2 & Proton reduction (HER) & Water Oxidation (OER)
  • Molecular Electro-Catalysis & Artificial photosynthesis, Renewable Energy, Green and Sustainable Chemistry
  • First Row Transition Metal complexes for Small Molecule Activation.
  • Redox Flow Chemistry involving Reduction-Oxidation (redox) Reactions.
  • Transition Metal Complexes as Homogeneous Catalysts for C-C coupling, C-H activation, A3-coupling.
  • Water Soluble Inorganic Complexes of Palladium, Ruthenium and Zinc for Cancer Treatment.
  • Ligand Design for Recovery, Recycling and Separation of Critical Metals.
  • Ligand Design for Chemosensors of Metals, Drugs, Biomacromolecules and Other Analytes


  1. Awards
  2. Courses Taught
  3. Publications
  4. Research Students
  5. Research Projects
  •       BSc: First Position in Science Group (Roll of honor), Gordon College Rawalpindi (Punjab University, Lahore)
  •       MSc: First Position in Inorganic/ Analytical Chemistry, QAU Islamabad.
  •       MPhil: First Position in Chemistry (Chancellor’s Gold Medal) QAU Islamabad.
  •       PhD: Doctoral Award, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
  •       Cover Articles: Inorganic Chemistry (ACS) & Dalton Transactions (RSC)
  •       Young Scientist Alumnus: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Germany (Chemistry)
  •       Research Grant Award: recieved from President of Pakistan at Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidency Palace)
  •       Member of Scientific Societies: Life time member of CSP (Pak), ACS (US), RSC (UK), NZIC (NZ) & RACI (Aus)
  •       Best Performance Award: QAU (2022-23) & TTS Research Performance based Bonus Increment-2021


BS/MSc :

  • Inorganic Chemistry-I  (Transition Metal Chemistry; d-block) 
  • Inorganic Chemistry-II (Transition Metal Chemistry; f-block)
  • Organometallics 
  • Coordination Chemistry
  • Analytical Chemistry-I
  • Analytical Chemistry-II (Electroanalytical Techniques)
  • Inorganic/Analytical Chemistry Laboratory-III
  • Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory-I
  • Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory-II
  • Analytical Chemistry Laboratory-I
  • Analytical Chemistry Laboratory-II
  • Advanced Inorganic/Analytical Chemistry Laboratory-IV
  • Research project in Analytical/Inorganic Chemistry

Phil/PhD:

  • Catalysis
  • Review Paper
  • Seminar
  • Research project in Inorganic Chemistry




Journal Publications: Total 90 ISI (Clarivate) Research Journal Publications  with h-index ⟩ 35

Selective Publications as Lead/Corresponding Author (Since 2020):

Molecular CO2 Electrocatalysis (Reduction):

·   Palladium (II) pyridylidene sulfonamide (PYSA) catalysts featuring Ortho-Substitution allow for improved electrocatalytic CO2 reduction Inorganic Chemistry Communications 173, 2025, 113838.

·        Multifunctional Imino-Amido Based Asymmetrical Ligands with Pd(II) for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction. Journal of Molecular Structure 2025, 1334, 14182.

·        Palladium (II) Pyridylidene Sulfonamides (PYSAs) for Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2. Journal of Molecular Structure 2025, 1322(4), 140582.

·        Unveiling the multifaceted nature of terpyridine-based metal complexes: a synergistic study of their photophysical and electrochemical behavior with computational insights RSC Advances 2025, 15, 10825–10850.

·        Pincer Shaped N-Mesoionic Pyridylidene Amide (PYA) for Palladium Catalyzed CO2 Reduction. Journal of Molecular Structure 2024, 1318, 139347.

·        Palladium Anchored Donor Flexible Pyridylidene Amide (PYA) Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction. RSC Advances 2023, 13, 13817.

·        Benzimidazole-based N-Heterocyclic Carbene Silver Complexes as Catalysts for the Formation of Carbonates from Carbon Dioxide and Epoxide. Molecular Catalysis 2022, 526, 112369.

·        Corrigendum to Efficient Palladium (II) Electrocatalysts with Thiophene Anchored Pyridinium Amidates for CO2 Reduction. Journal of CO2 Utilization 2021, 49, 101560.

Homogeneous/Heterogeneous/Photo-Catalysis:

·   Harnessing Cd(II)-based Efficient Photocatalyst with Nitrogen Gas Adsorption: A Green Approach Towards Environmental Remediation. Inorganic Chemistry Communications 2025, 182, 115227.

·        Design of Efficient Benzimidazole-Derived N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ag(I) Catalysts for Aldehyde-Amine-Alkyne Coupling. Journal of Molecular Structure 2024, 1318(1), 139239.

·        Plausible PEPPSI Catalysts for Direct C-H Functionalization of Furans and Pyrroles. Journal of Molecular Structure 2024, 1295, 136679.

·        Benzimidazol-2-ylidene Ruthenium Complexes for C-N Bond Formation Through Alcohol Dehydrogenation. Turkish Journal of Chemistry 2023, 47, 1209.

·        Direct Arylation of Heteroarenes via Unsymmetrical Palladium-PEPPSI-NHC Type Complexes. Polyhedron 2021, 208, 115412.

·        Synthesis of New Pd(NHC)-PEPPSI Type Complexes as Catalysts toward C-C Cross-Coupling Reactions. Journal of Molecular Structure 2021, 1243, 130883.

·        New 3-D Mn(II) Coordination Polymer with Redox Active Oxalate Linker Inorganica Chemica Acta 2021, 514, 119982.

·        Dinuclear Nickel(II) Complex with ONO-Pincer and Coordinated Aquo Ligands as a Robust Homogenous Water Oxidation Catalyst. Russian Chemical Bulletin 2020, 69, 2121–2128.

·        Terpyridine-Metal Complexes: Effects of Different Substituents on Their Physico-Chemical Properties and DFT Studies. Royal Society Open Science 2020, 7(11), 201208

Metallo-Organic Drugs:

·    Benzimidazole-Based N-Heterocyclic Carbene Rhodium(I) Complexes: Synthesis and Cytotoxic Evaluation as Potentially Anticancer Agents Journal of Molecular Structure 2026, 1373, 146704.

·    Experimental and Computational Insights into the New Cytotoxic Molecules based on Thiophene-2-Carboxamide towards Biological Macromolecules Journal of Molecular liquids 2026, 456, 129660.  

·     Water-Soluble Palladium Complexes Bearing NNN-Pincer Ligands: Synthesis, DFT Modeling, cT-DNA Interactions and in Vitro Cytotoxicity Studies Against Breast Cancer Cell Lines. Dalton Transactions 2025, 54, 9236.

·        Exploring the Antitumor Effects of Pd(II) Complexes with Nitrogen Donor Ligands towards Breast Carcinoma. Biometals 2025, 38(4), 1235–1254.

·        Synergistic Antiproliferative Activity of Newly Synthesized Benzimidazole Based Silver(I) Complexes on MCF-7 and T47D Cell Lines. ACS Omega 2025, 10(13), 13278–13295.

·        Biological Effects of p-PYA Ligands on Certain Trace Elements of Group-12 Towards DNA Binding and Cytotoxicity Potency. Biometals 2025.

·        ONO-Pincer Zn(II) & Cd(II) Complexes. Journal of Molecular Structure 2024, 1295(2), 136571.

·        Preliminary Anticancer Evaluation of New Pd(II) Complexes Bearing NNO Donor Ligands. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal 2024, 32, 101915.

·        Zn(II) and Cd(II) Pincer Complexes Bearing Meta Alkylated Pyridinium Amidates. New Journal of Chemistry 2023, 47, 21845.

·        Coordination Behavior, Structural, Statistical and Theoretical Investigation of Biologically Active Metal Based Isatin Compounds. Chemical Papers 2022, 76, 3705–3727.

·        Metal Incorporated Sulfonamides as Promising Multidrug Targets. Journal of Molecular Structure 2022, 1251, 131933.

·        New Organosulphur Metallic Compounds as Potential Drugs. Molecular Diversity 2022, 26, 51–72.

·        Design, Facile Synthesis, Spectroscopic Characterization, and Medicinal Probing of Metal-Based New Sulfonamide Drugs. Applied Organometallic Chemistry 2021, 35, 6054.

·        2-Benzylidenebenzofuran-3(2H)-ones as a New Class of Alkaline Phosphatase Inhibitors. RSC Advances 2021, 11, 35077.

·        Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Screening of Metal Complexes of Novel Sulfonamide Derivatives. Applied Organometallic Chemistry 2020, 34, 5623.

·     Synthesis, Characterization, Geometric Optimization and Multi-Target Therapeutic Evaluation of New Homoleptic and Heteroleptic Cd(II) Carboxylates. Journal of Molecular Structure 2020, 1212, 128088.

·      Efficient Synthesis, Characterization and In-Vitro Bactericidal Studies of Unsymmetrically Substituted Triazole-Derived Schiff Base Ligand. Monatshefte für Chemie 2020, 151, 549–557.

Selective PhD Publications as Lead Author

·        Extending the Range of Neutral N-Donor Ligands Available for Metal Catalysts. Inorganic Chemistry 2011, 50(21), 10522–10524. (Cover Article, Q1).

·        Controlled Translocation of Pd(II) within a 22-Ring Atom Macrocyclic Ligand. Dalton Transactions 2014, 43, 17006–17016. (Cover Article, Q1).

·        Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Studies of Pyridinium Amine Complexes Inorganic Chemistry 2015. (Q1).

·       Synthesis, Characterization, and Anti-Cancer Evaluation of New Water-Soluble PYE Ligands and Their Palladium(II) Complexes Dalton Transactions 2019, 48, 15408.   (Cover Article, Q1).

·        Synthesis of New Pro-PYE Ligands as Co-Catalysts toward Pd-Catalyzed Heck-Mizoroki Cross Coupling Reactions RSC Advances 2019, 9(65), 37986. (Q1).

·       Pd(II) Complexes with Chelating PYA Ligands: Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Anticancer Activity Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 2021, 224, 111590. (Q1).

  •       PhD First Batch (Completed): Zahid Nawaz, Afshan Khurshid, Shazia Hussain, Sara Masood & Naima Munir 

  •       PhD Second Batch (In Process): Faysal Nawaz,  Sameen Fatima, Farah Chaudhry &  Ayesha Chaudhry

  •       PhD Positions: OPEN (1) Synthesis of  Inorganic & Organic Molecules or Inorganic Materials).  (2) Back ground research in any of the following field will also be considered : Catalysis, Electrochemistry,  Medicinal Chemistry. Energy or Computational chemistry)

  • ·         Total Research Students Supervised: Above 50

·         Won Number of Research Grants: 

        National: NRPU & URF. 

        International: MOHE/UMT, Malaysia &  British Council, UK