Martin D. Smith

Abstract

Angewandte Chemie International EditionVolume 57, Issue 20 p. 5586-5586 Author ProfileFree Access Martin D. Smith First published: 13 December 2017 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201712087AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract “The secret of being a successful scientist is attracting the best students, curiosity, and good luck. My favorite name principle is the Woodward–Hoffmann rules ...” This and more about Martin D. Smith can be found on page 5586. Martin D. Smith The author presented on this page has published more than 10 articles in Angewandte Chemie in the last 10 years, most recently: “Discovery of a Highly Selective Cell-Active Inhibitor of the Histone Lysine Demethylases KDM2/7”: P. A. Gerken et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 15555; Angew. Chem. 2017, 129, 15761. Date of birth: May 9, 1973 Position: Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director, EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthesis for Biology and Medicine, University of Oxford E-mail: martin.smith@chem.ox.ac.uk Homepage: http://msmith.chem.ox.ac.uk; http://www.oxfordsynthesiscdt.ox.ac.uk ORCID: 0000-0002-8849-488X Education: 1995 BA, University of Oxford 1999 DPhil supervised by Prof. George W. J. Fleet, University of Oxford 2000–2003 Draper's Company Research Fellowship supervised by Prof. Steven V. Ley, University of Cambridge Current research interests: Enantioselective catalysis, synthesis, noncovalent interactions, mechanisms, phase-transfer catalysis Hobbies: Food and drink, gardening, literature The secret of being a successful scientist is attracting the best students, curiosity, and good luck. My favorite name principle is the Woodward–Hoffmann rules. My science “heroes” are Captain James Cook, R. B. Woodward, and Nikola Tesla. In the future, I see myself with an increasing amount of grey hair. The most important thing I learned from my students is that many of them are smarter than me. When I was eighteen I wanted to be good-looking. Or an astronaut. Young people should study chemistry because “power, wealth and prestige can only be obtained by the correct application of science” (D. H. R. Barton). Looking back over my career, I have been lucky to work with great mentors and great students. My favorite drink is champagne (but I'm not that fussy). My first experiment was trying to breathe underwater at about age 4 (it didn't work). In a spare hour, I play with my young son. I get advice from my colleagues in Oxford. They're a great bunch. I advise my students to not waste time drinking cheap wine. My favorite way to spend a holiday is with family, on the beach or in the mountains. My 5 top papers: 1“Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of indanes by a cation-directed 5-endo-trig reaction”: C. P. Johnston, A. Kothari, T. Sergeieva, S. I. Okovytyy, K. E. Jackson, R. S. Paton, M. D. Smith, Nature Chem. 2015, 7, 171. (Geometric and stereoelectronic effects are not always decisive in kinetically controlled ring-closing reactions.) 2“Can a C−H⋅⋅⋅O Interaction be a Determinant of Conformation?”: C. R. Jones, P. K. Baruah, A. L. Thompson, S. Scheiner, M. D. Smith, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 12064. (We probed the role of relatively weak interactions through the competitive interplay of two noncovalent interactions.) 3“A Cascade Strategy Enables a Total Synthesis of (±)-Morphine”: S. Chu, N. Munster, T. Balan, M. D. Smith, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 14306; Angew. Chem. 2016, 128, 14518. (This concise synthesis introduced us to photochemistry, an area we had no experience in at the time.) 4“Plagiarizing Proteins: Enhancing Efficiency in Asymmetric Hydrogen-Bonding Catalysis through Positive Cooperativity”: C. R. Jones, G. D. Pantoş, A. J. Morrison, M. D. Smith, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 7391; Angew. Chem. 2009, 121, 7527. (Hydrogen-bonded foldamers can be both catalytically proficient and highly enantioselective at very low loadings.) 5“Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of atropisomeric biaryls by a cation-directed O-alkylation”: J. D. Jolliffe, R. J. Armstrong, M. D. Smith, Nature Chem. 2017, 9, 558. (A chiral counterion can mediate a dynamic kinetic resolution of atropisomeric enolates.) Volume57, Issue20May 14, 2018Pages 5586-5586 ReferencesRelatedInformation