Prelog-Lecturers since 2000 and their laudations

2000

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Schwarz

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Schwarz was born in 1943. He studied chemistry at the TU Berlin, where he received his Diploma in 1971, and one year later, his doctorate. Habilitation followed in 1974. He moved up the academic ladder within the TU Berlin, becoming ord. Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1983. Already in his dissertation, Prof. Schwarz performed pioneering work on the application of mass spectrometry to problems in organic chemistry. Among his associations from his formative years, a stay at Churchill College Cambridge was of particular significance. It was there that he first developed the distinguishing characteristic that marks his work up to today. Mass spectrometry for Prof. Schwarz was always much more than an analytical tool for structure elucidation; he used mass spectrometry to study basic issues of structure and reactivity in well-chosen model systems of broad applicability. With this orientation, he has addressed a wide audience. Although sophisticated technology and instrumentation are critical to the success, or even the feasibility, of his experiments, the chemistry has always been centerstage. From his early work on molecular rearrangements and fragmentations in organic cations, grew several research areas.
Reactive intermediates have been of consistent interest in the Schwarz group. Prof. Schwarz is an early pioneer in a variety of mass spectrometric methods for their investigation. Two, in particular, deserve special mention because these methods demonstrate a depth of sophistication in the combination of organic chemistry and advanced instrumentation. Uncharged reactive intermediates, e.g. radicals, are normally inaccessible to mass spectrometric methods. However, a prosthetic charge at a site remote from the radical center allows these "distonic radical ions" to be manipulated in a mass spectrometer. Although it is the charge that renders the molecule tractable, it is the odd electron that confers the characteristic reactivity. Prof. Schwarz was among the first to explore the chemistry of these species. A second methodology for the investigation of uncharged reactive intermediates is Neutralization-Reionization Mass Spectrometry (NRMS), a technique in which Prof. Schwarz can rightly claim to be an early innovator and also the most prolific user.
The existence and properties of elusive transients, such as water oxide (H2O-O), highly reactive cumulenes (X=[C=Cn=Y, n = 1-4, X,Y = O,S), as well as neutral He@C60, can be obtained from these experiments. These studies provide benchmarks for computational studies, many of which were also done in the Schwarz group; they also provide direct evidence for proposed chemistry in fields as diverse as astrophysics and materials science.
Prof. Schwarz has also made seminal contributions in the study of the gas-phase chemistry of transition metal-containing ions. These small ions are often models for catalytic processes in the condensed phase. From remote functionalization studies, i.e. C-X and C-H activation, to the demonstration of genuine turnover of a catalyst ion trapped in an ICR, the work shows a deep appreciation of the versatility and ubiquity of metal-organic compounds. Of special note is the relation of the experimental studies to new theoretical constructs for the intuitive understanding of reactivity. While the application of computational methods to chemical problems has become widespread in recent years, it is rare that new intuitive models of general applicability that rationalize and predict the major trends in reactivity come to light. In the course of his studies on the reactivity of small ions such as FeO+, Prof. Schwarz has formulated, in collaboration with Prof. S. Shaik, the concept of Two-State Reactivity, which, despite its origins in the study of diatomic ions in the gas-phase, rationalizes gross trends in the chemistry of cytochrome P-450.
New areas of investigation include the exploration of relativistic effects in chemical reactivity. For AuF+ or PtCH2+, Prof. Schwarz has shown that relativistic effects can account for nearly half of the bond energy. The careful experimental work on relativistic effects should provide a touchstone for theory in this area, which is still in an early stage of development.
The outstanding level of innovation and broad range of topics is matched by Prof. Schwarz' remarkable productivity. Between 1972 and 2000 Prof. Schwarz has been author or coauthor on nearly 750 publications in peer-reviewed journals. His contributions have been recognized with several honorary doctorates - the most recent from the Israel Institute of Technlogy TECHNION, membership in many scholarly societies, as well as prizes such as the Otto Bayer Prize (1989), the Liebig Medal (1998), and the Lise-Meitner-Alexander von Humboldt-Award (1997), to mention only a few of the most significant.


2001

Prof. Dr. Robert H. Grubbs

Born February 27, 1942 near Possum Trot, Kentucky, USA, Professor Robert H. Grubbs obtained his Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry at the University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida in 1963. After a Masters degree (1965), Professor Grubbs earned a Ph.D. under the direction of Professor R. Breslow at Columbia University, New York, New York in 1968. Following his stay as a National Institute of Health post-doctoral fellow (1968-1969) in the laboratories of Professor J. P. Collman at Stanford University, Stanford, California, he started his independent academic career at Michigan State University in 1969. In 1978, he moved to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, where is the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Chair Professor of Chemistry.
The research program of Professor Grubbs has involved the design, and synthesis of transition-metal complexes that mediate preparatively useful reaction chemistry. The work has always been characterized not only by its innovation and novelty, but also by the meticulous mechanistic work that accompanies each of the processes he has discovered and developed. His investigations have had unparalleled impact in the development of well-defined complexes that function as catalysts in small molecule and polymer synthesis. His most recent work on the metathesis reaction of olefins has revolutionized strategies for the construction of molecules and, in particular, C-C bond formation. His pioneering interest in this phenomenal reaction pre-dates 1972 when he documented in a paper a mechanistic discussion of putative intermediates in the tungsten-catalyzed olefin metathesis reaction. The current family of Ru-based catalysts for this reaction are characterized by the efficiency and, importantly, by their functional-group tolerance as well as the ease with which such reactions, which had earlier demanded glove-box techniques, can be now conducted. The profound impact his work in this area has had can be appreciated by the fact that the use of the Grubbs metathesis reaction is wide-spread, and it is rather common to find in any chemistry journal research work utilizing this reaction in applications as diverse as natural products and polymer synthesis as well as chemical biology. It is a transformation that has become as important to molecular sciences as the Diels-Alder cycloaddition and Wittig olefination reactions. His highly productive research program has produced >30 patents and >350 refereed publications.
Professor Grubbs has been honored with a plethora of domestic and international awards. These include: Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1974-76); Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1975-78); Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (1975); American Chemical Society National Award in Organometallic Chemistry (1988); Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (1990); American Chemical Society Award in Polymer Chemistry (1995); Nagoya Medal of Organic Chemistry (1997); Fluka Reagent of the Year (1998); Mack Award (1999); Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry (2000); American Chemical Society Herman F. Mark Polymer Chemistry Award (2000); and the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods (2001). Professor Grubbs is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1979) and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994).


2002

Prof. Dr. David E. Cane

Professor David E. Cane was born in New York, NY in 1944. He studied chemistry at Harvard University, where he received a B.A. in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1971, studying under the direction of E.J. Corey. Following a two-year stay as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Duilio Arigoni at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich, he joined the faculty of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he is Professor of Biochemistry as well as Vernon K. Krieble Professor of Chemistry.
In Zurich, Prof. Cane was first introduced to the subject that has fascinated him for over 30 years: the mechanism by which naturally occurring substances of diverse biological origin — including antibiotics, toxins, plant defense substances, essential oils, and vitamins — are formed. Using chemical, enzymological, and molecular genetic techniques, he and his coworkers have sought to unravel the biosynthetic pathways leading to many such natural products, most notably terpenes and polyketides.
In the area of terpenoid biosynthesis, he has carried out detailed investigations of enzymes that promote cyclizations of geranyl and farnesyl diphosphate, the linear precursors of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, respectively. These studies culminated in solving the first crystal structure of a terpene synthase, in collaboration with Prof. David Christianson of the University of Pennsylvania, and the engineering of families of novel cyclases by site-directed mutagenesis. They have helped illuminate how proteins achieve control over the course and stereochemistry of these complex transformations.
In the area of polyketide biosynthesis, Prof. Cane developed an influential stereochemical model that correlated the structure and stereochemistry of a large number of polyether antibiotics, such as important drugs like erythromycin, and provided evidence for a common biosynthetic origin. In collaboration with Prof. Chaitan Khosla at Stanford, Cane is now exploiting a combination of synthetic, enzymological, and genetic approaches to clarify how polyketide synthases orchestrate the intricate sequence of events involved in converting the simple building blocks acetate and propionate into these structurally complex natural products. Their work on these multifunctional, modular enzymes has gone far in showing how nature can carry out very complicated chemistry using remarkably simple tools.
Throughout his career, Prof. Cane has demonstrated a flair for combining innovative chemical and biological approaches to the elucidation of mechanistic and stereochemical details of biosynthetic transformations. As scientists attempt to characterize the plethora of new and fascinating proteins identified through genomic sequencing, such efforts will become increasingly important. In his own laboratory, for example, exciting progress has been made on the enzymology of bacterial vitamin B6 biosynthesis, establishing the roles of two key gene products in the formation of the pyridoxine ring.
To mention only some of his many honors, Prof. Cane has been the recipient of the Kitasato Medal in Microbial Chemistry (1995), and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2000) and the Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Essential Oils and Related Products (1985) from the American Chemical Society. He has held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1990), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1978-1982), Christ's College, Cambridge (1989-90), and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (1983). He was also a Visiting Professor at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg (1999), the University of California, San Francisco (1998-1999), the Technion in Haifa (1994-1995), and the University of Chicago (1980).


2003

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pfaltz

The 2003 Prelog Medal Winner, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pfaltz, was born in Basel, Switzerland in1948. He carried out his diploma and doctoral studies at ETH Zürich under the direction of Prof. Dr. A. Eschenmoser, obtaining the doctoral degree in 1978. Professor Pfaltz subsequently furthered his professional training as a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University working with Prof. Dr. Gilbert Stork. From 1980-1986 he was a member of the scientific staff at ETH Zürich. He held an appointment as Privatdozent from 1987-1990 at the same institution before accepting a position as associate professor at the University of Basel in 1990. Rapidly rising through the academic ranks, he was promoted to professor of organic chemistry in 1993 at the University of Basel. From 1995-1998 he held a prestigious appointment as a director at the Max-Plank-Institut für Kohlenforschung at Mülheim-Ruhr in Germany where he served as head of the homogeneous catalysis section.
In 1999 he returned to the position of professor of organic chemistry at the University of Basel, where he currently has an active, prolific program in chemistry. His outstanding contributions to organic chemistry have been recognized with numerous awards, such as the Werner Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society (1989), the Wilhem Manchot Research Professorpship at TU-München (2002), and the Pracejus Prize of the German Chemical Society (2003).
Professor Pfaltz has established a broad-based research program in chemistry that spans the disciplines of heterogeneous/homogeneous catalysis as well as asymmetric synthesis, with substantial impact for the preparation of biologically active substances such as pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and crop protective agents. He is a pioneer in the discovery and development of new families of optically active ligands for catalytic asymmetric synthesis.
Of significance in his early work was the discovery of bisoxazoline ligands, which he elegantly demonstrated were useful in a number of catalytic asymmetric processes. The speed with which a number of research groups world-wide in the Americas, Asia, and Europe successfully adopted these priviledged structures into their own research endeavors attests to the importance and impact of these early observations and discoveries in the field of asymmetric catalysis. Ligand discovery and design is a theme that continues to thrive in Professor Pfaltz’s laboratories to include new families of innovative ligands for a variety of challenging processes in catalysis such as asymmetric olefin reduction.
Unique to Professor Pfaltz’s research program are the coupling of reaction discovery with mechanistic understanding that are linked to his quest for novel ligands with which to control and channel in useful directions the reactivity of transition-metal complexes. In addition to his program in homogeneous catalysis Professor Pfaltz has made significant contributions in heterogeneous catalysis, as evidence by his extensive publications in this area and collaborative efforts with industry and academic groups. His scientific work is immediately recognizable as a result of its high quality, innovation, and scholarship.


2004

Prof. Dr. Marvin H. Caruthers

Marvin H. Caruthers is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado. He received his B. S. from Iowa State University in 1962 and his Ph.D. with Robert L. Letsinger at Northwestern University in 1968. He joined the faculty of the University of Colorado in 1973 after several years as a research scientist with H. G. Khorana at the University of Wisconsin and M.I.T. His research interests focus on the synthesis of oligonucleotides, oligonucleotide analogs, and nucleic acid biochemistry.
Caruthers major scientific achievement is his pioneering research in nucleic acid chemistry resulting in new methods which are universally used for the chemical synthesis of DNA. This chemistry has made synthetic DNA available to biochemists, molecular biologists, and biologists. Synthetic DNA has become an essential research tool for an ever-increasing number of applications such as expressing heterologous genes in bacteria and yeast, identifying and isolating genes from various organisms using chromosome mapping and polymerase chain reaction, sequencing DNA such as the human genome project, carrying out the site-specific mutagenesis of genes, developing DNA chips for diagnostic applications, understanding the interactions of proteins with DNA, and most recently, in designing potential therapeutics for drug use. The rapid, chemical synthesis of DNA is one of the cornerstone technologies that has fueled the development of biotechnology world-wide and greatly expanded basic research in cell and molecular biology.
Professor Caruthers current research focuses on the further development of DNA and RNA chemistries. One objective is to modify this chemistry so that it is completely compatible for use in DNA chips. These advances will enable scientists to have a cheap, reliable DNA chip technology useful for addressing the large number of biological questions that are now possible as a result of recent advances in sequencing the human genome. Another major objective is to develop a new, rapid method for analyzing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human genome. These SNPs, if readily accessible, can be used to diagnose diseases, develop new drugs, and to complete many experiments in basic research. Other current research focuses on the development of new DNA analogs potentially useful as therapeutic drugs and the synthesis of RNA for use in many basic research applications.
Because synthetic DNA has so many commercial applications, Professor Caruthers has also been very active in the biotechnology area. Several other scientists and venture capitalists, including Caruthers, established two major biotechnology companies in 1980. One of these was Applied Biosystems, which marketed so-called "gene machines" based on the DNA synthesis methods developed by the Caruthers laboratory. This company, purchased by Perkin Elmer in 1992 still dominates the gene machine business. The other, Amgen Inc., is the top U. S. biotechnology company with annual sales exceeding eight billion dollars and a staff of approximately 10,000. Caruthers continues to be active in the biotechnology arena as he is a co-founder of Genomica Corporation (1997), Array BioPharma (1997), and Dharmacon (1996).
Professor Caruthers is a past chairman of his Department (1992-1995) and serves on various college and university committees and boards. He has published more than 150 manuscripts in highly regarded journals. Among other honors was a Guggenheim Fellow (1981), and was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute (1994). He has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences (1994) and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1994).


2005

Prof. Dr. Ben L. Feringa

The recipient of the 2005 Prelog Medal, Prof. Ben L. Feringa, was born in The Netherlands. He received the doctoral degree in 1978 at the University of Groningen, after working under the supervision of Prof. Hans Wynberg in the area of phenol oxidation. He subsequently took a position as a research scientist with Royal Dutch Shell, both at the Shell Research Center in Amsterdam and at the Shell Biosciences Laboratories in Sittingbourne, UK from 1978 through 1984. He joined the department of chemistry at the University of Groningen as a lecturer in 1984 and rapidly rose through the ranks to the position of full professor four years later as successor to Prof. Wynberg. In 2003, he was appointed as the distinguished Jacobus van’t Hoff Professor of Molecular Sciences. Prof. Feringa has authored more than 300 publications and 16 patents. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1997 Pino Gold Metal of the Italian Chemical Society and the Spinoza award, the highest scientific award in The Netherlands. He is also an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
His research interests span the broad range of cutting edge topics in modern molecular science and include homogenous catalysis for organic synthesis, analytics, as well as nanosystems and materials (molecular switches, motors, and self-assembly). Many important, high impact insights have emanated from his research program. Recently, for example, he discovered a method for the catalytic, enantioselective conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to acceptors. This had been a fundamental and difficult problem in chemical synthesis, which had remained unsolved despite intense investigations. Additionally, he discovered Monophos ligands, which provide an elegant, simple ligand scaffold for the generation of diverse donor libraries. The ligands have proven themselves to be useful in a host of critical processes. Moreover, these ligands have inaugurated a revolution in the field of asymmetric catalysis with transition metal complexes, which for historical reasons had come to rely in large part on the use of bisphosphine ligands. Due to his unique experience in industry and academics he tackles problems of both fundamental importance and practical relevance. Hand in hand with discoveries in reaction chemistry, he has pioneered the use of analytical methods for the rapid determination of product enantiomeric purity for use in the screening and optimization of catalytic asymmetric transformations. In the field of nanochemistry, he has developed chiral optical switches and molecular devices. The recent development of the first light-driven unidirectional molecular motors represents a particularly exciting advance. Professor Feringa’s research program thus exemplifies how the coupling of a deep seated understanding of molecular properties with masterful orchestration in chemical synthesis can lead to discovery and exploration in uncharted arenas. In doing so he has defined basic principles for further advances in this nascent, fertile area.
His broad interest in the chemical sciences are underpinned by the common theme of stereochemistry. It is thus fitting that in recognition of his scientific leadership Professor Feringa has been chosen as the recipient of 2005 Prelog Medal.


2006

Prof. Dr. Manfred T. Reetz

Manfred T. Reetz was born in 1943 in Hirschberg Germany. He received his BA degree from Washington University in St Louis in 1965 and his MS degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1967. He subsequently joined the group of Prof. U. Schöllkopf at the University of Göttingen for his doctoral dissertation which he completed in 1969. Following a postdoctoral stay with Prof. R. W. Hoffmann at the University of Marburg from 1971-72, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Marburg from 1973-78. He subsequently moved as an Associate Professor to the University of Bonn (1978-80) before becoming Full Professor at the University of Marburg where he stayed from 1980-91. In 1991, he was appointed as the successor of Prof. G. Wilke and became Director of the Max-Planck-Institute für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim/Ruhr. He profoundly changed the Institute, substituting a pyramidal structure to a structure of equal colleagues with rotating directorship, which subsequently enabled the hiring/retaining of some of the finest chemists worldwide.
Manfred T. Reetz is a synthetic organic chemist with a broad range of interests focusing on methodology development. His chemistry has been exploited by numerous academic and industrial groups. Early in his career, he solved the long-standing problem of a-tert-alkylation of carbonyl compounds by reacting the corresponding enolsilanes with a wide variety of tertiary alkyl halides in the presence of a Lewis acid. In fact he demonstrated that all SN1 active substrates undergo this kind of C-C bond formation, which means that the general concept is complementary to classical SN2 reactions of primary alkyl halides with lithium enolates. It is being used by Merck/USA in the production of the antibiotic Thienamycin. Reetz then turned to organotitanium chemistry and developed the idea of adjusting chemo-, enantio-, and diastereoselectivity of carbanions by titanation using transmetallating agents which contain halo, alkoxy, or amino ligands. His book entitled "Organotitanium Reagents in Organic Chemistry" not only summarizes these developments up to 1986, it also inspired many other groups to study trans-metallation using other metals and ligands. Parallel to these achievements, Reetz developed a new and general method for diastereoselective chelation-controlled Grignard-type processes, Mukaiyama aldol additions, and cyanohydrin forming reactions. The concept is based on the simple idea of chelating chiral a- or b-alkoxy aldehydes or ketones with such Lewis acids as TiCl4 and then to react them with appropriate reagents such as organozinc compounds, allylsilanes, enolsilanes, or silylcyanides. This method has found wide acceptance in organic synthesis.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Reetz described the racemization-free transformation of a-amino acids into the corresponding N,N-dibenzylamino aldehydes which opened new avenues for synthetic applications, including non-chelation-controlled addition reactions of organolithium and magnesium reagents, lithium enolates, cyanide ions, carbenoids, or nitronates. The Reetz N,N-dibenzylamino aldehydes and ketones turned out to be key compounds in other reactions as well.
In the 1990s, Reetz pioneered a completely new approach to asymmetric catalysis. It concerns the use of directed evolution as a means to create enantioselective enzymes for application in organic synthesis. This novel idea is based on the proper combination of molecular biological methods for random mutagenesis and gene expression as well as high-throughput screening for the determination of enantiopurity. For example, the enantioselectivity in the lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of a certain chiral ester was increased dramatically without any knowledge of the 3D-structure of the enzyme. The theoretical analysis of the best mutant, characterized by remote mutations, has revealed a novel relay mechanism, which demonstrates that important lessons can be learned from directed evolution. Moreover, high-throughput analytical screens for enantiopurity were developed and are now also being used by industrial groups. Thus, the use of isotopically labeled compounds in the determination of enantioselectivity of enzymes by mass spectrometry allowed more than 7000 exact ee-determinations per day. The Reetz group has extended the research to include the directed evolution of monooxygenases as catalysts in enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger reactions and sulfoxidation of prochiral thio-ethers (ee = 90-99%). Most recently the group has introduced the concept of combinatorial active-site saturation test (CAST) which is a milestone in directed evolution, making the search in protein sequence space unusually efficient. Highly enantioselective epoxide hydrolases were evolved using iterative CASTing, which is a crucial follow-up development of the original concept. Among the other challenges being addressed successfully is the classical problem of extending the substrate scope of enzymes and increasing their thermostability.
Parallel to these efforts, Reetz has recently pioneered the use of chiral monodentate P-ligands in efficient asymmetric transition metal catalysis, which constitutes a change in paradigm. He has extended their application by using mixtures, which is a novel combinatorial approach allowing for high catalyst diversity without the need to prepare new ligands. Like directed evolution, it holds great promise for truly practical applications.
Manfred T. Reetz has published more than 450 papers, many of which are very highly cited. He has been awarded several honors for his original, innovative research, among others the Otto-Bayer-Prize in 1986, the Leibniz-Prize of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in 1989, the Fluka-Prize "Reagent of the Year 1997", the Nagoya Gold Medal in Organic Chemistry, and the Karl-Ziegler-Prize in 2005. He is also a member of several scientific academies including the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.


2007

Prof. Dr. Scott E. Denmark

Prof. Scott E. Denmark was born in the state of New York in the USA in June 1953. As a college student, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he earned a S. B. degree in 1975. He performed undergraduate research under the guidance of Profs. Richard H. Holm and Daniel S. Kemp. For his doctoral studies he enrolled at ETH Zürich and conducted research under the direction of Professor Albert Eschenmoser. Professor Denmark was awarded a D. Sc. Tech. degree in 1980 for his dissertation work entitled “On the Stereochemistry of the SN’ Reaction”. That same year he commenced his independent career as assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He swiftly established a successful research program in organic synthesis and was promoted to associate professor in 1986 followed by full professor one year later. In 1991 he was named the Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry.
Professor Denmark’s scientific work has been recognized internationally in the form of numerous awards, including inter alia: Eli Lilly Research Grantee (1983); Beckman Endowment Research Award (1983); University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study, Beckman Fellow (1985); A. P. Sloan Foundation Fellow (1985-1987); NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1985-1990); Procter and Gamble University Exploratory Research Program Award (1986-89); University Scholar, University of Illinois (1986-1989); School of Chemical Sciences Teaching Award, University of Illinois (1986); Stuart Pharmaceuticals Award in Chemistry, ICI Americas (1987); A.C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society (1989); Alexander Von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (1990); Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990); Pedler Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry, (2002-2003); ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2003); and Yamada-Koga Prize of the Japan Research Foundation for Optically Active Compounds (2006).
Professor Denmark has established a research program that amalgamates the discovery and development of novel reaction chemistry with deep-seated mechanistic investigations. These themes can be traced throughout his work, spanning from his ground-breaking reports on the Nazarov cyclization through more recent investigations of enantioselective Lewis base catalysis. The silicon-directed Nazarov cyclization established an innovative role for silyl groups in steering the course of the reaction, substantively expanding the range of cyclization products that could be accessed. Denmark also devised innovative strategies for the execution of tandem [4 + 2]/[3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions, resulting in novel chiral auxiliaries for the execution of asymmetric cycloaddition sequences and the conceptualization of innovative strategies for synthesis. This work has enabled remarkably efficient syntheses of a wide range of structurally complex alkaloids from simple olefinic precursors, including numerous challenging pyrrolizidine and indolizidine natural products.
Denmark’s more recent efforts emphasize the chemistry of organosilanes, wherein new opportunities for catalysis have been identified. This work, which was initiated out of chemical curiosity about the reactivity of silacyclobutanes, has led to identification of new opportunities for catalysis. A combination of creativity and mechanistic insight has produced a substantive new addition to the field of asymmetric synthesis, specifically Lewis-base catalysis. The conceptualization and implementation of this strategy was brought to fruition in a field that has been otherwise dominated by Lewis-acid activation and catalysis. The intellectual departure from the established norm only came about as a consequence of the creativity and innovation that typifies Denmark’s research program. The development of this concept required a new class of reagents, i.e. trichlorosilyl enolates, and catalysts, particularly chiral phosphoramides. The success of these transformations constitutes a remarkable tour de force, as the efficient catalysts that have been reported by Denmark battle odds that include rapid, competing background reactions. His catalysts have been shown to be effective for a wide range of reactions, including aldol additions of aldehydes, esters, and ketones, Ugi, and allylation along with propargylation reactions. The processes are notable as they proceed in high yields, excellent and predictable diastereoselectivity, as well as superb enantioselectivity. In a parallel program, Denmark has developed a new class of cross-coupling reactions that promises to supplant the time-honored, standards in the field. Detailed mechanistic investigations by Denmark have permitted the development of organosilanes as veritable Csp2-Csp2 coupling partners in Pd-mediated reactions.
Professor Denmark’s research efforts continue to venture into uncharted chemical territories and open up new possibilities for the science of chemistry. The leitmotif of stereochemistry is dominant throughout his career. It is noteworthy that this theme extends well beyond the development of reactions and methods that lead to the formation of products in a stereocontrolled manner to include the use of stereochemical principles to extract mechanistic intricacies. It is thus fitting that in recognition of his innovation and leadership in the field Professor Denmark has been chosen as the recipient of the 2007 Prelog Medal.


2008

Prof. Dr. Masakatsu Shibasaki

Professor Masakatsu Shibasaki obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in 1969 and Ph.D. in 1977 at the University of Tokyo under the direction of Professor Shun-ichi Yamada. From 1974–1977, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Professor E. J. Corey at Harvard University. In 1977, he joined the group of Professor Shiro Ikegami at Teikyo University as an Associate Professor. He then moved in 1983 to Sagami Chemical Research Center as a Research Group Leader, and then to Hokkaido University as Professor (1986). In 1991, he was appointed Professor of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He was selected as Vice-President (2005-2006) and President (2006-2007) of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, as well as Dean of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2006-2008). He has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (1997), Honorary Fellow of Chemical Research Society of India (2003), Honorary Member of Chemical Society of Japan (2006) and member of Science Council of Japan (2006).
Professor Shibasaki has established himself as a leader in the development of new methods for asymmetric synthesis. Among the numerous important contributions to the area, he is well known for the discovery and development of bifunctional asymmetric catalysis. In the efficient methods he has crafted, catalysis is mediated by heterobimetallic chiral complexes that combine Lewis acid and Brønsted base properties in one system. In general these complexes are composed of alkali metal and rare-earth-metal cations held together by the chiral ligand BINOL (1,1'-bi-2-naphthol). These complexes constitute a new paradigm in catalyst design that promise to revolutionize the field and certainly open new opportunities in chemistry.
These catalysts allowed the first catalytic, enantioselective nitroaldol reactions, which have been used to prepare important biologically active compounds, including propranolol, metroprolol, and pindolol, which are members of a class of cardiovascular drugs called b-blockers; threo-dihydrosphingosine, a protein kinase inhibitor that has potential as a cancer treatment; and allophenylnorstatine, a key substructure in various anti-HIV agents. A number of these catalysts have been successfully implemented in the preparation of multi-kilogram quantities of several key pharmaceutical intermediates. Bifunctional asymmetric catalysis has also made possible an efficient catalytic asymmetric Michael reaction at room temperature. Optically pure Michael reaction products prepared in this way have enabled total syntheses of several indole alkaloids, including strychnine.
More recently, Professor Shibasaki has been using new bifunctional asymmetric catalysts derived from carbohydrate or amino acid scaffolds to enable the synthesis of quaternary stereogenic centers. This has been a long sought-after goal in chemical synthesis, and Professor Shibasaki has discovered and developed several transformations that are practical. Another focus of Shibasaki’s research program is development of sequential catalytic processes, whereby one asymmetric catalyst promotes several distinct transformations in a single reaction vessel.
Professor Shibasaki is credited with more than 450 publications and patents. Without question, he is one of the most prolific, creative, and innovative scientists in chemistry in the world. Professor Shibasaki is the most cited author for the past 10 years (Jan. 1, 1995-Aug. 31, 2005) in the asymmetric catalysis research field, according to the research by Thomson ISI. This is borne out by the numerous honors and awards have been bestowed in honor of Shibasaki’s scientific contributions. In 1981 he was the recipient of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Award for Young Scientists. Subsequently, in the 1990’s Shibasaki received honors worldwide: Inoue Academic Prize (1994), Fluka Prize (1996), Tetrahedron Chair (1998), Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Award (1999), and the Molecular Chirality Award (1999). More recent recognition of Shibasaki’s achievements are: the Naito Prize and Arthur C. Cope Senior Scholar Award (2002), the Japanese National Prize of Purple Ribbon (2003), the Torey Science Award (2004), the Japan Academy Prize (2005), the Takamine Memorial Sankyo Award (2006), the Rare Earth Society of Japan Award (2007), and the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2008).


2009

Prof. Dr. JoAnne Stubbe

The recipient of the 2009 Prelog Medal, Professor JoAnne Stubbe, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She studied chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with high honors in 1968. She subsequently transferred to the University of California, Berkeley for doctoral work and received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1971. After a brief stint as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, she began her academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Williams College. In 1977, she moved to the Department of Pharmacology at the Yale University School of Medicine and, three years later, to the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1987, she joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is currently the Novartis Professor of Chemistry and Biology.
Professor Stubbe has probed the mechanisms of radical based biological reactions throughout a career lustrous with accomplishment. Her groundbreaking studies of ribonucleotide reductases, in particular, revolutionized the field of enzymology. These enzymes, which convert ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, are essential to life. Through meticulously designed experiments, Professor Stubbe established a unifying mechanism for ribonucleotide reductases in which a protein-based thiyl radical abstracts a hydrogen atom from the ribonucleotide 3’-position, initiating formation of nucleotide radicals that are ultimately reduced by a pair of cysteine thiols at the enzyme active site. In addition to revealing the utility of radicals for achieving otherwise difficult chemical transformations, this work has contributed directly to the development of drugs such as gemcitabine for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Similarly, Professor Stubbe unraveled the mechanism by which the antitumor antibiotic bleomycin exploits Fe2+ and O2 to mediate double stranded DNA cleavage. Further research interests include enzymes involved in purine biosynthesis, pathways for assembling iron-based cofactors, and the mechanism of polymerases that produce biodegradable polyester polymers. This broad scientific program has yielded more than 250 publications. It reflects boundless curiosity, extraordinary experimental prowess, and an indefatigable drive to produce outstanding science.
Professor Stubbe has been widely recognized for her pioneering achievements. Among other major distinctions, she has received the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry (1986), the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (1993), the Alfred Bader Award in Bioorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry (1996), the Repligen Award (2006), and the National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemistry (2008). A member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Biological Chemists, and the Protein Society, Professor Stubbe has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1991), the National Academy of Sciences (1992), and the American Philosophical Society (2004).  The Laboratorium für Organische Chemie is honored to add her name to the roster of distinguished Prelog medalists.


2010

Prof. Dr. Carol V. Robinson

Carol Robinson has been a pioneer in the study of large biomolecules and their complexes using the tools of modern mass spectrometry. In 1998, her group first demonstrated that a huge complex of unprecedented size, the ribosome, with a molecular weight of 2.3 MDa could be brought intact into the gas phase. The ribosome contains two subunits, and is composed of 65% ribosomal RNA and 35% ribosomal proteins. In Robinson’s work, the ribosome could not only be observe intact by so-called „native“ electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, but it was possible to measure dissociation and deduce the strength of association of the ribosomal proteins using tandem mass spectrometry. For this purpose, a high mass-to-charge range instrument was specifically developed in collaboration with Micromass. With this instrumentation, it became possible to define the architecture of macromolecular complexes of unknown stoichiometry and structure. In rapid succession, her group published MS studies of amyloids, of intact viruses, HS2 domains, and other multi-protein complexes. In 2008, Carol Robinson’s group was able to show the first mass spectrum of an intact membrane protein complex, using „protection“ of this delicate assembly by nonionic detergents, rather than trying to strip off the lipids and detergent molecules.
Carol Robinson began working as a technician at Pfizer Pharmaceutical (in Sandwich, UK) leaving school when she was only a 16 year old, without any formal training. It was at Pfizer where she was first exposed to mass spectrometry. Soon, she decided to earn national certificates (OHC, HNC) in chemistry, which she did in night school, but therafter left her job to obtain a M.Sc. in 1980 (at the University of Wales, with Prof. John Beynon) and a Ph.D. degree in 1982 (at the University of Cambridge, with Prof. Dudley Williams). Shortly after completing her Ph.D. she had an 8-year carreer break, during which her three childern were born. Even after such a long hiatus, Carol made a remarkably strong return to science, first at the University of Kent (in Information Technology), then at Oxford University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. In 1995, she received a Royal Society Research Fellowship and assumed the position of Director of Mass Spectrometry at the Oxford Centre for Molecular Sciences. In 1999 she became one of the youngest professors and also one of only 17 women with the title of Professor at Oxford University. In 2001, she moved to Cambridge University, where she held the rank of University Professor in the Department of Chemistry. In 2009 she moved back to Oxford University to become the Dr. Lee Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry.
Carol Robinson has the impressive ability to identify important problems in structural biology and to come up with experimental strategies to address the key questions. She and her research team have developed both the methodologies and the equipment that enable studies on protein folding, and on the architecture of large compexes. Her work is published in Nature, Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Angew. Chem., JACS, and Analytical Chemistry, but also in journals much more oriented to (structural) biology, including the Journal of Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Structure. Carol is also an Associate Editor for both the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and for Protein Science. Carol Robinson has received numerous awards for her outstanding contribution to science, among them the Biemann Medal from the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (2003), the Rosalind Franklin Award from the Royal Society (2004), the Anfinsen Award from the Protein Society (2008), Honorary Doctorates from the University of Kent (2009) and from the University of York (2010), and she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004. An account of Carol Robinson’s achievements would not be complete without mentioning her mentoring and outreach activities. She devotes time to visit schools and colleges, with the aim of motivating students and teachers for science. She has given numerous newspaper and TV interviews on topics centering around women in science. In 2008, she spoke at the Houses of Parliament on “Experiences of a Woman Scientist”. It comes to no surprise that she has, over the years, attracted many highly talented young scientists into her group, and mentored them very successfully; a number of her former postdoctoral associates have launched academic careers (at institutions including the University of Michigan, the Weitzmann Institute, the University of Aaarhus, the University of Stockholm, and University College London). Carol Robinson is an excellent advocate of modern science, and a role model, especially for woman who pursue this path. It gives the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at the ETH Zürich great pleasure to have her as the Prelog Medalist and Lecturer 2010.

2011

Prof. Dr. Alois Fürstner

Professor Fürstner (b.1962) was educated at the Technical University of Graz where he completed a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1987 with Prof. H. Weidmann. He then moved to the University of Geneva as a post-doctoral fellow to work with Prof. Wolfgang Oppolzer. Professor Fürstner then returned to the Technical University of Graz to begin his independent career, receiving his habilitation in organic chemistry in 1992. The following year, he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Dortmund and also as a group leader at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung. Since 1998, Professor Fürstner has been a director of the Mülheimer MPI and head of the division of organometallic chemistry. He is currently the managing director of the institute.

Professor Fürstner’s research interests span the entire spectrum of synthetic chemistry ranging from the fundamental design of novel organometallic catalysts, through to their application in the synthesis of biologically important molecules. Despite the diversity of his interests, it is Prof. Fürstner’s work on the activation of π-bonds by transition metal complexes that has perhaps received the widest acclaim. In particular, his group has been prominent in demonstrating the power of metathesis processes in the synthesis of complex, medium and macrocyclic ring systems. Equally notable highlights from the Fürstner group include the catalytic Nozaki-Hiyama-Kishi reaction, titanium-induced heterocycle synthesis and its application in the construction of complex alkaloids, the 9-methoxy-BBN variant of the Suzuki reaction, iron-catalysed cross coupling and Au- and Pt-catalysed cycloisomerisations. Catalysis-based natural product synthesis also features strongly in the Fürstner groups activities. Recent accomplishments include the total syntheses of the glycolipids tricolorin G and cycloviracin B1, members of the epothilone family, lantrunculin A, citreofuran, the alkaloids dictyodendrin and streptorubin, and complex marine polyketides including the amphidinolides and spirastrellolides. In addition, Professor Fürstner’s research interests extend to heterocyclic chemistry, carbohydrate chemistry and the synthesis of pharmaceutically active compounds for which he has been honoured by various prominent institutions and learned societies.

In recognition of his contribution to organic chemistry, Professor Fürstner has received numerous awards and lectureships. They include the Lecturer's Scholarship ("Dozentenstipendium") of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (1994), an invited professorship at the Université Claude Bernard - Lyon I, France (1994), the Ruhrpreis Mülheim (1998), an invited professorship at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France (1999), the Leibniz Award of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (1999), the Thieme-IUPAC prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2000), the AstraZeneca Award in Organic Chemistry (2000), membership of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (since 2002), the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award of the American Chemical Society (2002), the Merck Academic Development Programme Award (2002), membership of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften (since 2004), corresponding membership of the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (since 2004), the Tetrahedron Chair (2004), the Junior Award of the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry (2005), the Mukaiyama Award of the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (2005), the Otto-Bayer-Prize (2006), the Heinrich Wieland Prize (2006), the Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis (2008) and the Lilly European Distinguished Lectureship Award (2011) amongst others

Moreover, Professor Fürstner has held prestigious lectureships in Europe, North America and Japan: Nozaki Lecturer (Japan, 1997), Novartis Lecturer (Switzerland, 1997), Organometallic Gordon Conference (USA, 1998), Smith-Kline Lecturer (USA, 1999), 16th H. C. Brown Lecturer (Canada, 1999), Merck-Frosst Lecturer (Canada, 1999), Organic Reactions Lecturer (USA, 1999), Bürgenstock (Switzerland, 1999), Heterocyclic Chemistry Gordon Conference (USA, 1999), Holm Lecturer (Denmark, 2000), Victor Grignard - Georg Wittig Lecturer (France, 2001), Novartis Central Europe Lectureship (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, 2002), Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecturer (USA, 2003), Centenary Lecture of the Royal Society of Chemistry (United Kingdom, 2004), Merck Lectureship (United Kingdom, 2004), Wyeth Lecture (USA, 2004), Merck Frosst Lecture (Canada, 2004), Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture (USA, 2005), Abbott Process Chemistry Lecture (USA, 2005), Pfizer Michigan Tour (USA, 2007), Roessler Lecture Series (USA, 2007), Eli Lilly Lectureship (USA, 2007), Andrew Derome Lecture (United Kingdom, 2008), Westschweizer Graduierten Kolleg (3ème Cycle) (Switzerland, 2008), Sir Robert Robinson Distinguished Lecture (United Kingdom, 2008), Astellas Lectureship (Japan, 2009), Alexander Todd – Hans Krebs Lectureship (United Kingdom, 2009), and the Lilly European Distinguished Lectureship (Greece, 2011).

In addition to Professor Fürstner’s role as managing director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, he is also an active member of numerous editorial boards. Examples include membership of the editorial board of “Topics in Organometallic Chemistry” (since 1997), membership of the advisory board of “Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis” (since 2000), scientific editor of “Chemical Communications” (since 2001), membership of the board of editors of “Organic Syntheses” (2001-2006), membership of the editorial advisory board of “Journal of Organic Chemistry” (2002-2004), membership of the advisory board of “ChemMedChem” (since 2006), membership of the Advisory Board of “Synthesis” and “Synlett” (since 2009), membership of the Advisory Board of “ChemCatChem” (since 2009), membership of the Editorial Board of “Angewandte Chemie” (since 2010), and membership of the advisory board of “Israel Journal of Chemistry” (since 2010).