Oliver Trapp, Professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany, has received the Horst Pracejus Prize 2023 from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) for his fundamental contributions to self-amplification in asymmetric catalysis, to enantioselective autocatalysis, and to the determination of absolute configuration by direct methods.

With his development of the first self-reinforcing asymmetric reactions and the elucidation of the mechanism of asymmetric autocatalysis, Oliver Trapp showed for the first time that such chemical processes are a general phenomenon and can even be designed rationally. He identified generic principles of autocatalysis and made its enormous potential accessible both conceptually and experimentally.

We met with Oliver Trapp in the Historical Dye Collection and the Historical Lecture Hall at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany. We talk about his research, creativity, motivation, and promoting young talent.

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Horst Pracejus Prize for Oliver Trapp

ChemistryViews March 13, 2023.

Outstanding work on self-amplification in asymmetric catalysis, enantioselective autocatalysis, and determination of absolute configuration by direct methods honored