K. Barry Sharpless, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA, has received the 2019 Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The prize is awarded annually to recognize distinguished services to chemistry.
Sharpless is honored for “the invention of catalytic, asymmetric oxidation methods, the concept of click chemistry and development of the copper-catalyzed version of the azide-acetylene cycloaddition reaction”. The award was presented at the 257th ACS National Meeting & Exposition in Orlando, FL, USA.
K. Barry Sharpless studied chemistry at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA, and Stanford University, CA, USA, where he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1968. He then performed postdoctoral research with James P. Collman at Stanford and with Konrad E. Bloch at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. In 1970, Sharpless joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. From 1977 to 1980, he was part of the faculty at Stanford University. Since 1990, he is W. M. Keck Professor at the Scripps Research Institute.
Among many other honors, Sharpless has received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001, together with William Standish Knowles and Ryōji Noyori, “for his work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions”. His research concentrates on developing methods for selectively controlling chemical reactions, with a special focus on the oxidation of olefins.
Selected Publications
- SuFEx Click Chemistry Enabled Late-Stage Drug Functionalization,
Zilei Liu, Jie Li, Suhua Li, Gencheng Li, K. Barry Sharpless, Peng Wu,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 2919–2925.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b12788 - A New Portal to SuFEx Click Chemistry: A Stable Fluorosulfuryl Imidazolium Salt Emerging as an “F−SO2+” Donor of Unprecedented Reactivity, Selectivity, and Scope,
Taijie Guo, Genyi Meng, Xiongjie Zhan, Qian Yang, Tiancheng Ma, Long Xu, K. Barry Sharpless, Jiajia Dong,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 2605–2610.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201712429 - Quantitative and Orthogonal Formation and Reactivity of SuFEx Platforms,
Digvijay Gahtory, Rickdeb Sen, Sidharam Pujari, Suhua Li, Qinheng Zheng, John E. Moses, K. Barry Sharpless, Han Zuilhof,
Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 10550–10556.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201802356 - Copper(I)-Catalyzed Cycloaddition of Organic Azides and 1-Iodoalkynes,
Jason E. Hein, Jonathan C. Tripp, Larissa B. Krasnova, K. Barry Sharpless, Valery V. Fokin,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 8018–8021.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200903558 - Mechanistic Studies on the Cu-Catalyzed Three-Component Reactions of Sulfonyl Azides, 1-Alkynes and Amines, Alcohols, or Water: Dichotomy via a Common Pathway,
Eun Jeong Yoo, Mårten Ahlquist, Imhyuck Bae, K. Barry Sharpless, Valery V. Fokin, Sukbok Chang,
J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 5520–5528.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jo800733p - Copper-Catalyzed Synthesis of N-Sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles: Controlling Selectivity,
Eun Jeong Yoo, Mårten Ahlquist, Seok Hwan Kim, Imhyuck Bae, Valery V. Fokin, K. Barry Sharpless, Sukbok Chang,
Angew. Chem. Inte. Ed. 2007, 46, 1730–1733.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200604241
Also of Interest
- Video: How Discoveries Are Made,
Vera Koester,
ChemistryViews.org 2016.
Nobel Laureate Barry Sharpless explains how discoveries are made - Priestley Medal 2018 for Geraldine Richmond,
ChemViews Mag. 2018.
Highest honor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) presented to researcher at the University of Oregon, USA - Priestley Medal 2017 for Tobin J. Marks,
ChemViews Mag. 2017.
Highest honor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) presented to materials and organometallic chemist - Priestley Medal 2016 for Mostafa El-Sayed,
ChemViews Mag. 2016.
Highest honor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) presented to physical and nanomaterials chemist - Jacqueline K. Barton Awarded the Priestley Medal,
ChemViews Mag. 2015.
The highest honor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has been awarded to Professor Jacqueline K. Barton, USA - Stephen Lippard Awarded the Priestley Medal,
ChemViews/Jonathan Faiz
ChemViews Mag. 2014.
Professor Stephen J. Lippard, USA, has been awarded the Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the ACS - Priestley Medal for Peter Stang,
Jonathan Faiz/ChemViews,
ChemViews Mag. 2013.
Peter Stang, University of Utah, USA, receives the highest honor of the American Chemical Society
