Koordinationskemi, oorganisk, bio-oorganisk och metallorganisk kemi  i flytande och fast fas, särskilt reaktionskinetik och reaktionsmekanismer för ligandutbytes-, substitutions- och elektronöverföringsprocesser i lösning. Övergångsmetallers kemi. Homogen katalys. Snabba kemiska reaktioner i lösning och deras tryck- och temperaturberoende, studerade bl. a. med användning av stopped-flow teknik och NMR. Mekanismer för snabba omlagringar i metallorganiska komplex. Reaktionsmekanismer för anti-canceraktiva metallkomplex och läkemedelskandidater, särskilt växelverkan mellan platinakomplex och biomolekyler. Atmosfärskemi: metallkatalyserade processer för svavelsyrabildning i atmosfärens vattenfas. Kemiska processer i marinarkeologiskt trä, t.ex. cellulosanedbrytning genom sur hydrolys och fria radikalprocesser och redoxkemi för järn och svavelföreningar i sådant material.

Biography

Lars Ivar Elding received a PhD in Physical Chemistry in 1970 at Lund University with Professor Ido Leden as supervisor. He was appointed docent in Physical Chemistry in1970 and senior lecturer in 1972. He held a research position at the Swedish Natural Science Research Council in Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms 1979-86. He has been a visiting professor at ETH Zürich at Anorganische Chemie with professor Luigi Venanzi in 1982, professor and chair of Inorganic Chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg 1986-88 and at Lund University 1988-2001; emeritus 2001.

Elding has been active in IUPAC commissions, EU evaluation panels, COST networks, scientific evaluation committees of the Swedish Natural and Engineering Research Councils and the Crafoord Foundation, and as a referee for a large number of international research foundations and universities, e.g. more recently the International Chemistry Review Panel of the Danish Council for Independent Research 2011-13 and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in 2018. He has been a member of the Chemistry Reference Group of the International Science Program (ISP) at Uppsala University 2001-2018, and in that capacity visited and evaluated a large number of Universities and researchers in developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America.

He was an Editorial board member of Inorganic Chemistry and Dalton Transactions, dean of Chemistry at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Lund University 1980-85, deputy chair of the Chemical Center there 1981-1984 and its chairman and director 1990-93. He is a Fellow of the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund and acted as its præses 2000-2001. He is a member of the Swedish National Committee for Chemistry since 2001, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the Swedish and American Chemical Societies. Since 1988 he is the expert in Inorganic Chemistry for the Swedish National Encyclopedia (NE) and has written a large number of articles there, signed LIE. He was in charge of the chemistry and technology research related to the preservation of the Royal Warship Vasa in Stockholm 2003 - 2012 and a member of the Preservation Council of the Vasa Museum 2003-2018.