Category: Awards
2012 Thieme-IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry Awarded
Melanie S. Sanford is awarded the 2012 Thieme–IUPAC Prize
Melanie S. Sanford
-We are delighted to announce that the 2012 Thieme-IUPAC Prize has been awarded to Melanie S. Sanford of the University of Michigan. Professor Sanford becomes the 11th recipient of the prize, and joins a select group of scientists under the age of 40 years whose research has had a major impact on the field of synthetic organic chemistry. The prize, which is presented every two years and includes an award of €5000, will be given to Melanie Sanford on July 3, 2012 at the ICOS-19 conference in Melbourne, Australia, after her Thieme-IUPAC lecture.
Melanie Sanford completed her B.S. and M.S. degrees at Yale University, carrying out undergraduate research in the group of Robert Crabtree, and then undertook Ph.D. studies at the California Institute of Technology under the supervision of Robert Grubbs. She then moved to Princeton University for two years of postdoctoral study with John Groves, before beginning her independent career with an appointment as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan in 2003. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, to full Professor in 2010, and to her current position of Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry in 2011.
Professor Sanford has a particular interest in catalysis involving high oxidation state palladium complexes. She has shown that palladium(IV) complexes, which were earlier considered to be inaccessible under ambient conditions, can, with careful design of supporting ligands, be synthesized and studied in detail. More generally, her research program at Michigan is at the leading edge of the use of transition metals to catalyze a variety of important reactions in organic synthesis and in the development of a fundamental mechanistic understanding of these organometallic reactions. She is internationally recognized as one of the foremost investigators in the development of catalytic processes for the site-selective functionalization of C-H bonds, an exceptionally challenging area of chemical research. Her research focus has included the development of new strategies for achieving this ambitious goal, providing the mechanistic understanding of how the reactions work, and clarifying the underlying mechanistic principles in a way that will allow their application in many further classes of reactions.
Other recent areas of investigation by Melanie Sanford involve the fields of fuel and energy research. Initial studies from her laboratories have examined the oligomerization of methane, and the development of tandem sequences of catalysts for the selective, low-temperature reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol.
In her research, Melanie Sanford is at the forefront of the catalytic organometallic-synthetic organic chemistry interface. She has demonstrated new reactivity principles, developed practical and widely used synthetic methods, and rigorously established the mechanistic principles of her methods as a guide to the many investigators who are applying her fundamental findings.
We heartily congratulate Melanie Sanford and look forward to hearing the latest exciting developments from her laboratories, an Account of which will be published in Synlett, at her award lecture in Melbourne, Australia.
Members of the 2012 Selection Committee:
- V. Snieckus (Chairman) - Kingston, Canada
- J. Cossy - Paris, France
- A. B. Charette - Montreal, Canada
- D. Ma - Shanghai, P. R. China
- K. Nozaki - Tokyo, Japan
- M. A. Rizzacasa - Melbourne, Australia
- P. Savage - Clayton, Australia