The chemist Nuno Maulide received an ERC Starting Grant in 2011 and the ERC Consolidator Grant in 2016. With his Consolidator Grant, he discovered a carbon-carbon linking reaction that produces menthol from citronellal without the use of any metals - in just one step. "Our goal now is to optimise this metal-free conversion from citronellal to menthol in just one reaction step, to demonstrate the technical applicability of the reaction through large standards and to investigate its implementation in the existing market," says Nuno Maulide about his "Proof of Concept" grant "Neutramenth".