Benjamin List, Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, Mülheim, Germany, and Mathias Christmann, Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany, have received awards from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). List received the Horst Precejus Prize, which is awarded biannually by the GDCh for work in the area of enantioselectivity or chirality. Christmann received the Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize for young scientists who have completed their habilitation and have distinguished themselves with original work.
The awards were presented by Professor Barbara Albert, President of the GDCh, at the Chemiedozententagung meeting in Berlin, Germany, on March 11, 2013.
Benjamin List studied at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and was awarded his Ph.D. from the University of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1997 for work supervised by Johann Mulzer. From 1997–1998, he was a postdoctoral researcher with Richard Lerner and Carlos F. Barbas III at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA. In 1999, he was made assistant professor at the same institution. In 2003, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research, where he is currently Managing Director of the Institute and Director of the Department of Homogeneous Catalysis.
List’s research interests are in the development of new concepts in organocatalysis, transition-metal catalysis, and biocatalysis. Recently this has included the direct asymmetric α-benzoyloxylation of cyclic ketones, asymmetric counteranion-directed palladium catalysis, and a three-component synthesis of homoallylic amines.
Mathias Christmann studied chemistry at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, and was awarded his Ph.D. from Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, in 2001 for work supervised by Markus Kalesse. He did postdoctoral studies at University of Minnesota, USA, with Craig Forsyth, before completing his Habilitation at RWTH Aachen, Germany, in 2007. Since 2008, he has been Associate Professor at Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany.
Christmann´s research interests are in organocatalysis, natural products synthesis, and sustainable chemistry.
Selected publications of Benjamin List:
- Catalytic Asymmetric Three-Component Synthesis of Homoallylic Amines,
Shikha Gandhi and Benjamin List,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201209776 - Direct Asymmetric α Benzoyloxylation of Cyclic Ketones,
Olga Lifchits, Nicolas Demoulin, Benjamin List,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50(41), 9680–9683.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201104244 - A Highly Enantioselective Overman Rearrangement through Asymmetric Counteranion-Directed Palladium Catalysis,
Gaoxi Jiang, Rajkumar Halder, Yewen Fang, Benjamin List,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50(41), 9752–9755.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201103843
Selected publications of Mathias Christmann:
- β-Lactones through Catalytic Asymmetric Heterodimerization of Ketenes,
Eugenia Marqués-López and Mathias Christmann,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(35), 8696–8698.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201204026 - Access to Skipped Polyene Macrolides through Ring-Closing Metathesis: Total Synthesis of the RNA Polymerase Inhibitor Ripostatin B,
Philipp Winter, Wolf Hiller, Mathias Christmann,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(14), 3396–3400.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201108692 - Total Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of (−)-Englerin A and B: Synthesis of Analogues with Improved Activity Profile,
Lea Radtke, Matthieu Willot, Hongyan Sun, Slava Ziegler, Stephanie Sauerland, Carsten Strohmann, Roland Fröhlich, Peter Habenberger, Herbert Waldmann, Mathias Christmann,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50(17), 3998–4002.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201007790
