Organic chemist Ronald Breslow, Columbia University, New York, USA, celebrates his 85th birthday on March 14, 2016.

Professor Breslow’s research focuses on the design and synthesis of new molecules with interesting properties. His interests include anti-aromaticity, biochemical reactions, remote functionalization reactions, the development of artificial enzymes, and cytodifferentiating agents. He has been involved in the synthesis of the cyclopropenyl cation, as well as in the development of the histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA (Vorinostat) which is used for the treatment of lymphoma.

Ronald Breslow studied chemistry at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, where he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry under the supervision of Robert Burns Woodward in 1955. After a year of postdoctoral research with Alexander R. Todd at the University of Cambridge, UK, he joined Columbia University. Today, Breslow is Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry there.

Among many other honors, Professor Breslow has received the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1987, the Paracelsus Prize by the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS) in 1990, the US National Medal of Science in 1991, and the Priestley Medal by the ACS in 1999. The “Ronald Breslow Award for Achievement in Biomimetic Chemistry”, awarded by the ACS, is named in his honor.

Selected Publications

• Physical Organic Chemistry, the Richest Chemical Science,
  Ronald Breslow,
  Isr. J. Chem. 2016, 56, 89–90.
  DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201500029
• Single molecule conductance of aromatic, nonaromatic, and partially antiaromatic systems,
  Adaickapillai Mahendran, Purushothaman Gopinath, Ronald Breslow,
  Tetrahedron Lett. 2015, 56, 4833–4835.
  DOI: 10.1016/j.tetlet.2015.06.076
• Magnesium pyrophosphates in enzyme mimics of nucleotide synthases and kinases and in their prebiotic chemistry,
  Purushothaman Gopinath, Vijayakumar Ramalingam, Ronald Breslow,
  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2015, 112, 12011–12014.
  DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1516239112
• Structures of a histone deacetylase homologue bound to the TSA and SAHA inhibitors,
  Nikola P. Pavletich, Michael S. Finnin, Jill R. Donigian, Alona Cohen, Victoria M. Richon, Richard A. Rifkind, Paul A. Marks, Ronald Breslow,
  Nature 1999, 401, 188-193.
  DOI: 10.1038/43710
• Cyclopropenyl cation. Synthesis and characterization,
  Ronald. Breslow, John T. Groves,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1970, 92, 984–987.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja00707a040
• On the Mechanism of Thiamine Action. IV. Evidence from Studies on Model Systems,
  Ronald Breslow,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1958, 80, 3719–3726.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja01547a064