CasadoLab participates in the commemoration of the bicentenary of the discovery of benzene at the University of Málaga

On 10 October 2025, the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Málaga hosted a scientific event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the discovery of benzene, one of the most important molecules in the development of modern chemistry.

Held in the Faculty of Sciences, the event brought together leading researchers to explore the evolution of our understanding of benzene and its impact on areas ranging from organic chemistry to advanced materials and nanoscience.

The programme opened with a lecture by Nazario Martín, entitled “Benzene: Six Carbon Atoms That Changed the World.” This was followed by A. Mateo Alonso, who discussed the connection between benzene and advanced carbon-based materials in his lecture “From Benzene to Graphene Nanoribbons: Benzenes One After Another.”

The programme continued with Agustí Lledós, who delivered the lecture “Benzene and Its Family,” and concluded with Diego Peña, with “Fusing Benzenes on Demand.”

The event offered an opportunity to look back over two centuries of scientific progress surrounding a molecule composed of six carbon and six hydrogen atoms, whose unique structure has played a fundamental role in the evolution of chemistry. The programme also highlighted the contributions of scientists such as Michael Faraday, August Kekulé, Kathleen Lonsdale, Linus Pauling and George Wheland, whose work was essential to the discovery, structural understanding and theoretical description of benzene.

The initiative was supported by several academic and scientific institutions, including the University of Málaga, iMANA and the Málaga Territorial Section of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ), together with institutional funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Union.