Professor Of Organic Chemistry Research Articles

Ulf Diederichsen (1963–2021)

“For he was our own! … Fruitful both in counsel and deed; this we experienced and appreciated.” With the death of Ulf Diederichsen on November 11, 2021, after a short but severe illness, we lost a great scientist in chemical biology and good friend. He was a generous and extremely gifted man whose strength was to tackle essential biological problems at a molecular level with simple model systems and to draw insightful conclusions realizing a hallmark of chemical biology by addressing biological challenges with chemical approaches derived from simple principles. Ulf Diederichsen was born on October 7, 1963, in Munich and grew up in Göttingen, enjoying excellent scholar education at the Max-Planck Gymnasium. He moved to Freiburg im Breisgau in 1983 to study Chemistry at the Albert-Ludwigs-University. For his doctorate he moved to Zurich in 1988 to work with Prof. Eschenmoser at the ETH on the question why Nature chose pentose—but not hexose nucleic acids. He received the Dr. rer. nat. in 1993 on the Base pairing of hypoxanthine in HOMO DNA oligonucleotides and the question of the pairing behavior of glucopyranosyl oligonucleotides. He then joined the group of Prof. Dennis P. Curran at the University of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh/USA) as postdoctoral researcher (1993–1994) investigating radical chemistry. Back to Europe he started his habilitation on “Linear nucleic acid analogues with peptidic backbones” under the mentorship of Prof. Horst Kessler at the Technical University of Munich, which was finished in 1999. He then joined the University of Würzburg as Professor of Organic Chemistry, and finally, in 2001, the University of Göttingen. He served as Dean (2005 to 2007) and Vice President for Research (2015 to 2021). In addition, he was Guest Professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich (1998–1999) and Goering Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin, USA (2000). He was elected member of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen in 2012 and became its president in 2020. His scientific interest was mainly centered on the non-covalent interaction of peptide helices with respect to the incorporation, organization, and dynamics in lipid membranes. He successfully employed spin-labeled peptides for distance measurements. Similarly, he addressed the membrane attachment and fusion processes of SNARE proteins with model systems (conjugates of transmembrane peptides with coiled coil peptides or peptide nucleic acids). He was interested in functionalized β-peptides as artificial matrices for aggregation and modification of model membranes. The excellent results of this outstanding research were summarized in largely over 100 publications in highly renowned international journals. Besides his exceptional scientific achievements and admirable mentorship for a large number of doctoral students and postdocs, he deserves high recognition for his excellent research management particularly as Vice President of the University of Göttingen. He also served as a highly esteemed reviewer in various panels, including the German Research Foundation. The large experience collected in this important activity, particularly also for the German peptide community, he adapted in a very successful manner also in his editorial engagement as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Peptide Science since 2012, where he was supposed to take over the full responsibility as the Editor-in-Chief from 2022. Those of us who knew him are saddened by his sudden passing away and mourn the great loss of a dear friend and colleague. He will always be remembered as an inspiring teacher and mentor, as an enthusiastic scientist, but first and foremost as a warm and sincere human being, as a “feiner Kerl.”

Leading in the academy: women science professors at university college Dublin in the 1960s

ABSTRACTThe under-representation of women in senior echelons of the academy, particularly in disciplines which have been historically male-dominated and male-led, is well-documented internationally. The narrative, however, is not a linear one, and there have been intervals of alteration and narrow apertures of opportunity. This article focuses on one of those intervals, the period 1957–1962, which saw three women professors being appointed to the Science Faculty at University College Dublin: Carmel Humphries (1909–1986) first female professor of zoology (1957); Phyllis Clinch (1901–1984) first female professor of botany (1961); and Eva Philbin (1914–2005) first female professor of organic chemistry (1962). Interrogating the career biographies of Humphries, Clinch, and Philbin, this article examines how as outsiders within an academic hierarchy marked by male privilege, these women managed to infiltrate the inner sanctum of university activity, undertaking leading, high profile academic roles in prestigious, male-dominated disciplines. The article finds, however, that while Humphries, Clinch, and Philbin were successful in negotiating, even shifting, the university’s centre of gravity for a brief period, this powerbase was soon eroded and the dominant hegemony reinstated, ushering women scientists back to the margins of university activity.

Responses by Australian pharmacologists to respiratory depression caused by opiates and barbiturates

In the middle of the last century, pharmacologists at the University of Melbourne led by Professor Frank Shaw inadvertently discovered that an amino-acridine they were using in other experiments reversed the respiratory depressive effects of morphine. They widened their search for such activity, experimenting with a range of heterocyclic substances and achieving success with a thiazole derivative, provided to them by the Professor of Organic Chemistry at the university, that countered the effects of morphine. Working with chemists and pharmacologists at a company with which Shaw had close links, Nicholas Pty Ltd, they discovered a glutarimide that offered the same benefit in cases of barbiturate intoxication. While this collaboration between pharmacologists and chemists, in industry and university, promised much, neither of these drugs survived into modern medical practice. The reasons for this include the development of better drugs or more appropriate patient care, Shaw’s withdrawal from the work because of illness, and decisions in the company that might have been influenced by increasingly stringent requirements for the registration of new drugs. Nonetheless this was important research that drew on the depth of expertise in pharmacology and chemistry among university researchers and a major Australian company with whom they collaborated and exchanged personnel.

Student Subjects in Research

Student Subjects in Research

New Leadership, New Layout

New Leadership, New Layout

François Diederich (1952-2020): 40 Years of Organic Chemistry.

François Diederich, Professor of Organic Chemistry and long-time Chair of the Editorial Board of Angewandte Chemie, sadly passed away on September 23, 2020. He will be remembered for his groundbreaking research in the chemistry of fullerenes and carbon-rich molecules, in supramolecular and medicinal chemistry, as an engaging teacher, and as a generous and fascinating human being.

The Relationship of William Henry Perkin, Jr. and Sir Robert Robinson: Teacher and Student, then Student and Teacher.

William Henry Perkin, Jr. FRS, the son of the inventor of mauve and other commercial dyes and credited for initiating the industrialization of chemistry, was himself a notable chemist. He was the Professor of Organic Chemistry at Manchester from 1892-1912 and then was the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at Oxford and the first Head of the Dyson Perrins Laboratory from 1912-1929. One of Perkin's graduate students and research assistants at Manchester was Robert Robinson, subsequently Sir Robert Robinson, FRS and recipient of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Perkin and Robinson had perhaps the most productive and broad collaboration between a professor and one's student. Together, during and after Robinson's student days, they had 71 joint publications, 25 of which involved just the two of them, 17 of which involved the structure determination of strychnine, and eight of which were published after Perkin's death in 1929. Upon Perkin's early death, Robinson succeeded him as the fourth Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, Oxford University. This Essay will examine the professional relationship of Perkin, Jr. and Robinson as revealed in their joint publications on the structure of strychnine.

From organic chemistry to chemical biology via macromolecules with Hermann Staudinger

Hermann Staudinger was born in Worms, Germany on March 23, 1881 and studied chemistry at University of Halle, Technical University, Darmstadt and Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich. In 1903 when he was only 22 years old, he obtained his PhD in Chemistry with Daniel Vorlaender in Halle. He started his habilitation with J. Thiele at the University of Strasbourg where in 1905, at age 25 he reported the discovery of ketenes. In 1907 at age 26 he discovered the [2 + 2] cycloaddition of ketenes with imines. This reaction remains even today the method of choice for the synthesis of β-lactams the main building block of antibiotics. This reaction is known as the Staudinger synthesis. In 1907 he obtained his habilitation in Strasbourg and moved as a junior faculty to the Technical University in Karslruhe. In Karslruhe he became for the first time interested in polymers. In 1912 he moved as professor of organic chemistry at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) where in 1919 he discovered the reduction of azides with triphenylphosphine, known as the Staudinger reaction. In 1920, at age 39 and at the pick of his professional career as an organic chemist he published a paper claiming that natural and synthetic polymers are covalently linked macromolecules. He had no support for this concept. In 1953 he received Nobel Prize in chemistry “for his discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry.” As seen even from Nobel lecture, his ultimate dream was to bridge between synthetic macromolecules and biology. His dream came through in the year 2000 when Bertozzi, Raines and Kiessling discovered Staudinger ligation, a bioorthogonal reaction that allows chemistry in living systems. His dream did not come through by bridging between synthetic macromolecules and biology but by transforming Staudinger reaction into Staudinger ligation.

Erick Carreira named editor in chief of JACS

After a worldwide search, the American Chemical Society has named , a professor of organic chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, the new editor in chief of the ( ). ...

Career Ladder: Lana Rossiter

1990’s From pre-med to pre-chem Lana Rossiter grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. She started college at Emory University on a pre-med track, but an organic chemistry professor encouraged her to explore lab science. She was accepted into a summer research program in synthetic organic chemistry at the University of Utah after her sophomore year that “opened the possibilities up to me,” she remembers. After an internship with DuPont, she started graduate school at the University of Oregon, which she chose in part because there were several female faculty in the chemistry department. After earning her PhD in synthetic organic chemistry and methodology, she completed a postdoc at Eli Lilly and Company. 2000 Contract chemistry After finishing her postdoc, Rossiter took a job at Albany Molecular Research Inc., a contract research company. While she was initially hired to work in the chemical development group, she agreed to work

Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry

Since 2008, the European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology (EJLST) has published a special issue on “Fats and oils as renewable feedstock for the chemical industry,” first yearly and since 2016 biannually. These issues were edited by Michael (Mike) Meier and Jürgen O. Metzger and based on the respective international workshops organized initially in Emden and then in Karlsruhe/Germany. Mike Meier had to withdraw as editor of this series and thus also this present special issue, due to conflicting new editorial appointments. Ursula Biermann, a member of the scientific committee of the workshop since 2013, followed him as co-editor. In the nine previous special issues, 102 manuscripts were published, giving an excellent insight into the hot as well as classical topics of oleochemistry. Apart from more classical applications of oleochemicals, for example, detergents, personal care, and lubricants, the increasing use of fatty acid derivatives and of glycerol for the synthesis of renewable monomers and polymers is the most remarkable and a permanent topic over the years. Additionally, an increasing interest in the application of established as well as new catalytic reactions on oleochemicals can be observed. Metathesis, especially cross-metathesis of oleochemicals, was reported in many papers over the years, as well as hydroformylation and hydroaminomethylation. The isomerizing methoxycarbonylation of unsaturated fatty esters is most fascinating and was first presented on the 2nd Workshop in 2009 by Cole-Hamilton,1 followed by studies of many research groups since then. The application of the effective and simple thiol–ene addition reaction to the double bonds of fatty compound for their functionalization and polymerization has equally attracted much attention. The oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids, though a classical topic, has obtained renewed interest. Efficient catalytic ways for this important reaction are necessary to substitute the non-sustainable ozone cleavage. Glycerol has become available in large amounts because of the increasing biodiesel production and novel transformations and uses have been studied and reported over the years. Biotechnological conversions of fatty compounds to value-added compounds were reported in many papers. New fatty compounds, that is, cardanol from cashew nut shell liquid with aromatic structure, have received much interest. This is the 10th special issue covering 12 selected contributions2, 3 to the 10th Workshop on Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry, which took place from March 17 to 19, 2019, in Karlsruhe, Germany, organized by abiosus e.V. in cooperation with the Agency of Renewable Resources (FNR), Germany. Thirty lectures and forty posters provided once more an update on the newest developments in the field of fats and oils as renewable feedstock for the chemical industry, demonstrating the advances made in the field. Oleochemistry remains a very active field of research, providing important contributions for a sustainable development. Eventually, we would like to invite you to participate in the 11th Workshop on Fats and Oils as Renewable Feedstock for the Chemical Industry from March 7 to 9, 2021. Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to participate. We are looking forward to exciting and fruitful discussion with you, the fats and oils community. The program and additional information will be available in September 2020 (http://www.abiosus.org/meetings.html.de). Ursula Biermann Jürgen O. Metzger Ursula Biermann studied food chemistry in Hannover and Munich. She received her doctorate at the Technische Universität München in 1979 under W. Grosch, Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Lebensmittelchemie, Garching. Since 1987, she has been a research fellow at the Institute of Chemistry of the Universität Oldenburg under J. O. Metzger, where she worked on the synthesis of novel fatty compounds using natural oils and fats as chemical raw materials. The main focus of her studies lies in Lewis-acid-induced, radical, and thermal addition reactions to the C,C-double bond of unsaturated fatty compounds. Jürgen O. Metzger studied chemistry at the universities of Tübingen, Erlangen, Berlin, and Hamburg, Germany. He received his Ph.D. under the supervision of H. Sinn in 1970 at the University of Hamburg, and completed his habilitation in 1983. In 1991, he was appointed professor of organic chemistry at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, and he retired in 2006. He is chairman of abiosus e.V., a non-profit association for the advancement of research on renewable raw materials. His research areas include sustainability in chemistry, environmentally benign organic synthesis, renewable raw materials, radical chemistry, and mass spectrometry.

COLABORACIÓN HISPANO-ALEMANA EN BIOQUÍMICA MANTENIDA POR MIEMBROS DE LA REAL ACADEMIA NACIONAL DE FARMACIA Y POR OTROS BIOQUÍMICOS ESPAÑOLES

German can be considered as world pioneer in the development of Biochemistry. Its founder, Prof. Felix von Hoppe-Seyler, established contacts with the Spanish Professor of Organic Chemistry, Laureano Calderón Arana, since the onset of this subject around 1872. Later, some other Professors of the newly created Química Biológica, which was taught only at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Madrid as a subject common to doctoral students in Pharmacy, Medicine and Science, maintained a connection, albeit minor, with their German colleagues. From 1928, Dr. Severo Ochoa, who would subsequently win a Nobel Prize, worked for long periods in the prestigious Departments at Berlin and Heidelberg. More recently, other biochemists, members of the Royal Academy National of Pharmacy (RANF), have followed this connection with several German Departments. Furthermore, German biochemists have delivered lectures in Spanish Universities invited by their Spanish colleagues, in addition to their participation in Spanish symposia. Moreover, several German biochemists have been RANF members

Professors allegedly made methamphetamine

Two chemistry professors at Henderson State University were arrested on Nov. 15 for allegedly making methamphetamine and using drug paraphernalia, according to a press release from the Clark County, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Office. Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland, both associate chemistry professors at HSU, have been on administrative leave since Oct. 11, Tina V. Hall, a spokesperson for HSU, says in a statement. According to Hall, one of HSU’s science buildings was closed on Oct. 8 after a report of a chemical odor. “Initial testing indicated an elevated presence of benzyl chloride in a laboratory,” Hall says. The building reopened on Oct. 29, after remediation work and after third-party testing indicated the building met occupancy standards. Benzyl chloride is a popular compound for organic synthesis. It can be used as a precursor to make methamphetamine, says Donna J. Nelson, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Oklahoma and

Chad Mirkin and Helma Wennemers win supramolecular awards

Chad Mirkin of Northwestern University and Helma Wennemers of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, are the winners of supramolecular chemistry awards presented by the Research Center for Functional Molecular Systems; they recognize outstanding scientists in the supramolecular chemistry field. Mirkin is the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry and the director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern. He was awarded the 2019 Netherlands Award for Supramolecular Chemistry for his many research contributions, including the invention and development of spherical nucleic acids and methods for rationally assembling nanoparticles into macroscopic materials. Helma Wennemers is a professor of organic chemistry at ETH Zurich. She was awarded the 2019 Netherlands Scholar Award for Supramolecular Chemistry for her work on the rational design and development of peptide-based asymmetric catalysts and bioinspired molecular scaffolds for applications in supramolecular and...

Photochemistry in Huelva: Light for Triggering, Controlling, and Monitoring Chemical Processes

AbstractUwe Pischel is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Huelva (Spain) and Group Leader at the Center for Research in Sustainable Chemistry (CIQSO). He is a current member of the ChemPhotoChem Editorial Board.

Profile of David D. Ginty

The sense of touch is key to humans’ ability to experience the world, but unraveling the neural pathways underpinning this key sense has been a challenge. David D. Ginty has spent more than two decades investigating the development of the somatosensory system and fundamental mechanisms underlying the sense of touch. The Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ginty has combined a variety of sophisticated genetic tools with physiological, developmental, and behavioral analyses to uncover the peripheral sensory neurons of touch and the central nervous system circuits they engage. David D. Ginty. Image courtesy of Harvard Medical School. Ginty discovered his love of the natural world at an early age through many childhood hours spent exploring the Connecticut outdoors and catching fish, frogs, and turtles with his older brother, Mark. Ginty’s interest in research was kindled during his time synthesizing porphryin ring compounds with his organic chemistry professor, James Thomas at Mount St. Mary’s College, Maryland. “That was the first time I realized that one could actually make a living testing, tinkering, brainstorming, and ultimately finding answers to interesting questions,” says Ginty. However, it was Ginty’s experiences with his doctoral advisor, Ed Seidel at East Carolina University, that cemented his desire to spend the rest of his life as an academic scientist. “Ed exuded the joy and satisfaction that comes with scientific discovery,” Ginty says. Later, as a postdoctoral fellow with Michael Greenberg at Harvard Medical School, Ginty worked on the mechanisms of action of neuronal growth factors. “Mike is not only a brilliant scientist but also a terrific mentor and role model,” he says. When Ginty started his own laboratory at The Johns Hopkins University, his interest in studying growth factor signaling led him …

In My Element: Magnesium

The In My Element series celebrates the personal accounts from Chemistry – A European Journal Editorial Board members for the 2019 International Year of the Periodic Table. In this contribution, Burkhard König gives his story on magnesium. As a passionate organic chemist, carbon is the element of interest. The reason for this fascination is the endless reaction variation. However, carbon–carbon bond formation is more challenging than an oxidation. Therefore, another element has caught my eye. It is magnesium, would you like to know why? On organomagnesium compounds you can rely, because their reactivity is very high. You may have to be patient to form a Grignard reagent. However, you will be filled with anticipation, if you see turbid solution formation. Please read on with enthusiasm and pleasure, to learn how magnesium can be a treasure. It is hard to forget your first time preparing a Grignard reagent. You are eager to get started because you will be producing an important reagent that can be used in organometallic reactions. Even still, you become slightly flustered as you are trying to remember all the different tricks told by the teacher for activating magnesium, the key player in this reaction. As you fill your well-dried round bottom flask with magnesium turnings, you notice how lightweight it is. You add just enough ether to cover the grey–white metal. With the stirrer bar buried by the shiny turnings, you slowly open the tap of the dropping funnel, allowing the first milliliters of the alkyl halide solution to drop into the ether. Now density comes into play. You notice the higher density solution sink from the surface of the ether and watch it approach the magnesium. You hold your breath. Is the reaction going to start? Is it getting slightly turbid close to the magnesium surface? Did you just see a gas bubble? Or maybe it is just your imagination! Seconds feel like minutes, and after some time you decide to take action to help start the reaction. You add a few drops of the alkyl halide as a neat liquid, and then a small crystal of iodine. A small violet cloud immediately begins to develop around a few magnesium turnings, but it is still not starting. Where is the heat gun? Let's try some heat. The ether quickly starts to boil, but it is still not working! You are running out of tricks to start the reaction. What else can you do? While contemplating all possible actions, you notice a subtle change at the surface of some magnesium turnings. Finally, small bubbles begin to evolve, and the solution becomes turbid. Now things are happening fast. More and more of the magnesium turnings start to react. You add more alkyl halide solution, start the magnetic stirrer and bring the reaction to reflux. You have your emergency ice bath in close proximity in case the reaction becomes too violent. With gentle cooling you keep the reaction running, and the last drops of the alkyl halide solution go into the reaction. At this point, most of the metal has reacted and dissolved. The mixture is grey and turbid. Done! Now you have made your Grignard solution. Position Professor of organic chemistry at the University of Regensburg, Germany E-mail [email protected] Homepage http://www-oc.chemie.uni-regensburg.de/koenig/index.html Education M.Sc. (Hauptdiplom), University of Hamburg, Germany (1988) Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat), University of Hamburg, Germany (1991) Visiting research fellow with Prof. Dr. M. A. Bennett at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (1991/92) Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Dr. B. M. Trost at Stanford University, U.S.A. (1992/93) Awards Reinhard-Koselleck grant of the German Science Foundation (2017), ERC adv. grant 2016, UN-Decade Award on Sustainability 2011/2012, Literature award of the Fonds of the German Chemical Industry 2007 Research interests Physical-organic chemistry, photocatalysis, photochromic compounds, supramolecular interactions Hobbies Gardening, spending time in nature I thank Mrs. Ranit Lahmy for her valuable input to this text.

Profile of Junying Yuan

Cell biologist Junying Yuan vividly remembers the moment when, during her second year of graduate school at Harvard University in 1983, a thin, restless Huntington’s disease patient was wheeled into her “Neurobiology of Disease” class. “I was appalled that modern medicine could do little for him,” she says. “He and others suffering from neurodegenerative diseases made a lasting impression on me. I became emotionally motivated to try to help these patients.” Photograph of Junying Yuan. Image courtesy of Aaron Washington for Harvard Medical School. Over the subsequent three decades, Yuan and her team have made major discoveries concerning the molecular mechanisms regulating cell death involved in normal development and a wide range of disorders. Her achievements include discovery of the regulated necrotic cell death pathway termed “necroptosis” and its key mediator, the kinase receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein 1 (RIPK1). She and her colleagues also discovered the evolutionarily conserved role of caspase enzymes in regulating mammalian apoptosis. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, Yuan reviews her team’s research on RIPK1, a kinase that is now a pharmaceutical target, in her Inaugural Article (IA). Yuan was born in Shanghai, China, to a family of scholars. Her father and mother were both professors at Fudan University Shanghai Medical College. Yuan’s paternal grandfather Kaiji was an organic chemistry professor at the college. During China’s cultural revolution, a sociopolitical movement from 1966 to 1976, universities closed and many textbooks were burned. The period adversely affected Yuan’s family, and Yuan thought factory work or farming was her only vocational option. Her high-school teacher Zhaiyang Lu, however, recognized her talent and urged Yuan to press on with her education. Since the only local science textbooks, dated to before the Cultural Revolution, were locked in the school library, Lu procured the books for her. Before returning them, …

Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Systems and Absorption Tuning

AbstractMogens Brøndsted Nielsen is a Professor of Organic Chemistry and is Head of the Organic Chemistry Section at the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen (Denmark). He is a current member of the ChemPhotoChem Editorial Board.

The Future of Photochemistry: Just Bright

AbstractAxel Griesbeckimage is a Professor of Organic Chemistry and Photochemistry at the University of Cologne (Germany). He currently serves as the Chair of the IUPAC Photochemistry Subcommittee and is one of the Chairs of the ChemPhotoChem Editorial Board.