February 27, 2012 - IMM@BUCT

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AWARDS theoretical efficiency of solar cells made from the materials by as much as 30%. Wasielewski’s lab is also investigating quantum effects in organic materials with an eye toward quantum computing. His group is exploring a phenomenon known as “spin teleportation,” wherein the quantum state of a molecule at one location can be replicated at another location. With his organic materials, he says, his team is close to accomplishing this feat with light and to read the teleported states using microwave pulse sequences. The use of organic materials offers the potential to “deploy the arsenal of organic chemistry, including the tools of selfassembly,” to make materials for massively parallel computational systems, he says. Wasielewski was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1995. His recent honors include the 2004 Inter-American Photochemical Society Award in Photochemistry, the 2006 James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry from ACS, and the 2008 Porter Medal. When asked to sum up his work, Wasielewski says, “The magic word is multidisciplinary.” His research demands expertise in organic, physical, inorganic, and materials chemistry, as well as instrumentation. Jovan Giaimuccio, a former group member now at Independent Project Analysis, says, “The opportunity to be exposed to so many advanced forms of scientific experimentation gives Mike’s students the ability to discern scientific discovery from experimental artifact.” —CRAIG BETTENHAUSEN For young Jin-Quan Yu, his favorite chore was like a mystical quest. Every month, he’d trek to a store 2 miles from his home in a remote village in southeast China to collect free salt for his family. The vendor would give Yu empty linen bags that once contained kilograms of salt. He’d take the bags home, wet them, and evaporate the water to collect the salt crystals that emerged, as if by magic. Yu says he wasn’t thinking about chemistry then, but he’s pretty sure the experience was the first indication that he had “good lab hands.” Yu, 46, has since put his hands to use in C–H activation, arguably the hottest area of organometallic chemistry. He is “a phenom,” says University of California, Berkeley, organometallic chemist John F. Hartwig. “This guy is on fire and full of ideas.” A desire to study medicine led Yu to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Shanghai’s East China Normal University. “In the village it could get really Yu scary if you were ill,” Yu recalls. “We pretty much relied on Chinese herb extracts.” Yu earned his master’s under Shu-De Xiao at the Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry. There, Yu’s research led to a catalyst for ton-scale production of dihydromyrcenol, a lily-of-the-valley-scented compound used in shampoos and perfumes. Fascinated by enzyme catalysis, Yu attended the University of Cambridge to earn a Ph.D. with Jonathan B. Spencer. He then joined E. J. Corey’s Harvard University lab as a postdoc, hoping to do total synthesis. But Corey steered Yu toward another project—allylic C–H oxidation. Yu was reluctant at first, but became enthralled with the challenge of converting normally inert C–H bonds to C–C or C-heteroatom bonds. After Harvard, Yu began independent research back at Cambridge as a Royal Society Research Fellow. In 2004, he became an assistant professor at Brandeis University. In 2007, he moved to Scripps Research Institute, where he is currently a full professor. He’s garnered many honors, including a Sloan Research Fellowship, the Japanese Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry’s Mukaiyama Award, and numerous awards from pharmaceutical companies. “I consider Jin-Quan’s pivotal contributions to the C–H activation field to be some of the very best in the area,” says Yu’s Scripps colleague and chemistry chairman K. C. Nicolaou. “Many groups have been focusing on sp 2 C–H bond functionalization, but Dr. Yu recognized that the chemistry of sp 3 C–H bond functionalization is potentially much richer,” says Huw M. L. Davies, who studies C–H activation at Emory University. In 2008, for example, Yu discovered the first palladium(II)-catalyzed coupling of sp 3 C–H bonds with sp 3 organoboron reagents. Yu’s team also developed the first palladium-catalyzed enantioselective C–H activation reactions. Yu says the key is using ligands that weakly coordinate to palladium. “By the time I retire, I hope synthetic chemists, particularly those in the pharmaceutical industry, will use C–H activation on a daily basis, like they do cross-coupling,” Yu says. In his spare time, Yu likes to play soccer. His favorite position? “Right wing,” Yu says. “I want to strike and score.” — CARMEN DRAHL JANET HIGHTOWER/SCRIPPS GABOR SOMORJAI AWARDED HONDA PRIZE Gabor A. Somorjai, professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, is the winner of the 2011 Honda Prize for his pioneering contributions to surface chemistry. The Honda Prize, awarded by the Honda Foundation, is Japan’s first international science and technology award. The Honda Foundation was created by Honda Motor’s founder Soichiro Honda and his younger brother Benjiro Honda. Somorjai’s discoveries in surface chemistry and catalysis have led to a better understanding of friction, lubrication, adhesion, and adsorption. Somorjai’s peers refer to him as the “father of modern surface chemistry.” He received a medal, a certificate, and 10 million yen (approximately $129,000) during an award ceremony in Tokyo in November 2011. Somorjai CAROLYN BERTOZZI TO DELIVER CHEMICAL BIOLOGY LECTURE Carolyn R. Bertozzi, the T. Z. & Irmgard Chu Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded the 2012 ACS Chemical Biology Lectureship in recognition of her pioneering contributions to research at the interface of chemistry and biology. Bertozzi’s research focuses on profiling changes in cell-surface glycosylation as- WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG 64 FEBRUARY 27, 2012
sociated with cancer, inflammation, and bacterial infection and exploiting this information for development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The lectureship is sponsored jointly by ACS Chemical Biology Bertozzi and the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry. Bertozzi will present a lecture during the spring ACS national meeting in San Diego. ANGELA GRONENBORN AWARDED HAMMES LECTURESHIP Angela M. Gronenborn, Rosalind Franklin Chair of the department of structural biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, has been awarded the 2012 Gordon Hammes ACS Biochemistry Lectureship, which is jointly administered by the editor-in-chief of Biochemistry and the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry. The award honors outstanding contributions in scientific research at the interface of chemistry and biology. Gronenborn is being recognized for her achievements Gronenborn in the development of nuclear magnetic resonance methodologies for the determination of biomolecular structure and in the subsequent application of those methodologies to proteins of particular biological interest. She will deliver a lecture during the fall ACS national meeting in Philadelphia. NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2012 PAULING AWARD Nominations are being accepted for the 2012 Linus Pauling Medal Award. Sponsored jointly by the Oregon, Portland, and Puget Sound ACS local sections, the award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding achievement in chemistry in the spirit of and in honor of Linus Pauling, a native of the Pacific Northwest. The medal will be presented at a symposium to be held this fall in Seattle. Nominations should consist of a concise curriculum vitae that includes significant publications and a list of honors and awards, along with a summary (400–1,000 words) of scientific achievements, including explanations that clearly outline the importance of the nominee’s work. Letters seconding the nomination are encouraged. Scientists of all nationalities are eligible for this award. However, the award will not be given for work for which the nominee has already received a Nobel Prize. Please send an e-mail with a PDF of the nomination documents by April 10 to William Reinhardt at rein@chem. washington.edu . LINDA WANG compiles this section. Announcements of awards may be sent to l_wang@acs.org . WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG 65 FEBRUARY 27, 2012
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February 27, 2012 - IMM@BUCT

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