After his Phd in Chemistry at the University of Bonn, he pursued postdoctoral stays at the University of Wisconsin, Madison/USA, at the Ruhr-University of Bochum as well at the University of Graz, at which he obtained his venia for Inorganic Chemistry in 2005. Since 2011, he is a Professor at the University of Kassel. His research focus is set on preparative organo-element chemistry of the main group elements, especially phosphorus and silicon, luminescent as well as optically and redox-actively switchable molecules, inorganic polymers, surface chemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, chirality as well as molecules, ions and free radical with unusual bonding situations.