Egbert Willem “Bert” Meijer, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, has been awarded the Hermann Staudinger Prize 2022 by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). The prize was presented at the Biennial Meeting of the GDCh Division of Macromolecular Chemistry in Aachen, Germany, on September 12, 2022.
The award honors outstanding contributions to polymer chemistry. Bert Meijer received the prize for his outstanding and creative contributions to the field of supramolecular polymer chemistry.
His research interests include self-assembled materials, the non-covalent synthesis of functional supramolecular systems, and functional supramolecular polymers. Through targeted molecular design and synthesis, he has realized systems in which monomeric units combine themselves to form supramolecular polymeric materials with special properties. Before this work, these properties were thought to be unique to covalently linked macromolecules.
Supramolecular materials can be easily processed at low temperatures and pressures due to the reversible binding of the building blocks. The tunable nature of these materials opens new avenues for these systems. Many of Meijer’s strategies are “biomimetic”, i.e., principles of biological organization are transferred to synthetic polymeric materials.
Curriculum Vitae
Bert Meijer was born on April 22, 1955, in Groningen, The Netherlands. He studied chemistry at the University of Groningen, where he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1982 under the supervision of Hans Wynberg. He then worked at Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, and DSM Research, Geleen, The Netherlands, before joining Eindhoven University of Technology as Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1991.
Meijer also became Adjunct Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry at Radboud University Nijmegen in 1994, Distinguished University Professor of Molecular Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology in 2004, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, in 2006, Academy Professor at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014, External Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, in 2018, and Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia, in 2022.
Awards and Honors
Among other honors, Meijer has received the Golden Medal of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society (KNCV) in 1993, the ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2006, the Best Teacher of the Year award of the Eindhoven University of Technology in 2009, the International Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan, in 2011, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the ACS in 2012, and the Nagoya Gold Medal in Organic Chemistry, Japan, in 2017.
Bert Meijer was named a Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2020 and is a Member of the
Royal Dutch Society of Science (KHMW), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science (KNAW), the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), and the Academia Europaea, a Corresponding Member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts, Germany, an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Research Society of India, as well as a Fellow of Chemistry Europe, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the European Academy of Sciences. Meijer also is an Honorary Member of the KNCV and the Chemical Society of Israel, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Selected Publications
- Dilution-induced gel-sol-gel-sol transitions by competitive supramolecular pathways in water,
L. Su, J. Mosquera, M. F. J. Mabesoone, S. M. C. Schoenmakers, C. Muller, M. E. J. Vleugels, S. Dhiman, S. Wijker, A. R. A. Palmans, E. W. Meijer,
Science 2022, 377, 213–218.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn3438 - In situ Synthesis of Supramolecular Polymers: Finding the Right Conditions when Combining Covalent and Non-Covalent Synthesis,
T. Schnitzer, S. A. H. Jansen, M. F. J. Mabesoone, G. Vantomme, E. W. Meijer,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202206729 - Controlling the Processability and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers Using the Interplay of Intra- and Intermolecular Interactions,
J. J. B. van der Tol, G. Vantomme, A. R. A. Palmans, E. W. Meijer,
Macromolecules 2022, 55, 6820–6829.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00976 - Supramolecular glycopolymers: How carbohydrates matter in structure, dynamics, and function,
L. Su, S. I. S. Hendrikse, E.W. Meijer,
Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2022, 69, 102171.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.102171 - Supramolecular biomaterials,
M. J. Webber, E. A. Appel, E. W. Meijer, R. Langer,
Nat. Mater. 2015, 15, 13–26.
https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT4474 - Functional Supramolecular Polymers,
T. Aida, E. W. Meijer, S. I. Stupp,
Science 2012, 335, 813–817.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1205962 - Supramolecular Polymerization,
T. F. A. De Greef, M. M. J. Smulders, M. Wolffs, A. P. H. J. Schenning, R. P. Sijbesma, E. W. Meijer,
Chem. Rev. 2009, 109, 5687–5754.
https://doi.org/10.1021/cr900181u - Amplification of Chirality in Dynamic Supramolecular Aggregates,
A. R. A. Palmans, E. W. Meijer,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 8948–8968.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200701285 - Probing the Solvent-Assisted Nucleation Pathway in Chemical Self-Assembly,
P. Jonkheijm, P. van der Schoot, A. P. H. J. Schenning, E. W. Meijer,
Science 2006, 313, 80–83.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1127884
Also of Interest
- Hermann Staudinger Prize for Brigitte Voit,
ChemistryViews 2018.
Honoring outstanding contributions to polymer chemistry - 23rd Nagoya Medals of Organic Chemistry,
ChemistryViews 2017.
E. W. “Bert” Meijer, The Netherlands, and Hiroaki Suga, Japan, honored - 50th Anniversary: Hermann Staudinger’s Death,
ChemistryViews 2015.
Nobel Laureate Staudinger was the father of polymer chemistry and discovered the ketenes - Hermann Staudinger Prize for Klaus Müllen,
ChemistryViews 2016.
Outstanding contributions to polymer chemistry honored - A. Müller Receives Staudinger Prize,
ChemistryViews 2012.
Axel Müller, University of Bayreuth, receives the Hermann-Staudinger Prize of the GDCh
