Recent Advances in Enantioselective and PhotoHAT Catalysis
Title: Recent Advances in Enantioselective and PhotoHAT Catalysis
Speaker: Professor Erick Carreira, ETH Zürich
Abstract: The ability to readily access small-molecule building blocks at will has important consequences for the discovery and development of novel medicines and materials. It is particularly beneficial when the chemical methods are convenient while at the same time economically and environmentally tenable and sustainable. A focus of our research program at ETH-Zurich is the identification, study, and development of novel reactions and methods for preparation of functionalized structures. We are especially interested in catalytic processes that are easily executed and utilize readily available starting materials. We will discuss several new reaction processes that provide ready access to a host of fundamentally versatile building blocks for synthesis. The presentation focuses on the unique reactivity of Ir- and Ru- complexes with a novel ligands as well as recent progress with earth-abundant metal catalysts combined with photochemistry.
Bio: Professor Erick M. Carreira obtained a B.S. degree in 1984 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the supervision of Scott E. Denmark and a Ph.D. degree in 1990 from Harvard University under the supervision of David A. Evans. After carrying out postdoctoral work with Peter Dervan at the California Institute of Technology through late 1992, he joined the faculty at the same institution as an assistant professor of chemistry and subsequently was promoted to the rank of associate professor of chemistry in the Spring of 1996, and full professor in Spring 1997. In September 1998, he was appointed professor of chemistry at the ETH Zürich in the Institute of Organic Chemistry. Since 2011, he has been also been a Member of the Competence Center for Systems Physiology and Metabolic Diseases at ETH-Zürich.
Professor Carreira is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Leopoldina. He was associate editor with Organic Letters, Thieme Verlag (Synfacts and Synthesis), and Organic Synthesis. He served as Editor-in-Chief for Organic Letters 2019-2020, and as of January 2021 he is the Editor-in-Chief of J. Am. Chem. Soc. Together with colleagues at ETH Zurich he has co-founded three companies: Lipideon, SpiroChem, and Glycemicon. He is a consultant for companies in North America, Europe, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Asia, and Africa. He has served as head of the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH-Zürich and spokesperson for Conference of ETH Heads of Department, reporting to the ETH President He is Deputy Head of Department at present.
Carreira is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, such as, Bachmann Lecture Award University of Michigan; Voelckers Lecture Award University of Texas San Antonio; Zasshikai Lecture The University of Tokyo; Overman Lectureship, UC Irvine; Morris Travers Memorial Lecture IISc Bangalore; G. K. Trivedi Annual Award Lecture 2023" at IIT Bombay; Overman Lectureship (UC Irvine), Suzuki Award (Japanese Chemical Society), Elected Member of German National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina; Kharasch Lectureship, University of Chicago; Noyori Prize, Japan; Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society; Barluenga Medal by the Royal Society of Chemistry; C. S. Marvel Lectureship by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Lieben Award by the Austrian Chemical Society; Ziegler Award Lecture, MPI Mulheim, DE; Tischler Award Lecture, Harvard University; Gassman Award Lecture, University of Minnesota; Seymour Rothchild Lecture Award, the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry; A. Cruishank Lecturer, Gordon Research Conferences; DSM Science and Technology Award; Tetrahedron Chair; Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award; Thieme Prize, Springer Award, American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry, and Nobel Laureate Signature Award. Professor Carreira has authored over 390 publications and 36 patents. He has mentored in his laboratory 140 undergraduates, 110 doctoral students, and 83 post-doctoral associates.
About T. G. H. Jones Memorial Lecture
This biennial UQ public lecture is a memorial to the late Thomas Gilbert Henry Jones, who joined UQ as an assistant lecturer and demonstrator in 1915. Following service in WWI as a munitions and explosives producer, he returned to UQ as a lecturer in inorganic chemistry, being promoted to professor and Head of Department in 1940. During his 50 years of service to UQ, Professor Jones was a member of the Senate (from 1944 to 1968), Dean of the Faculty of Science (from 1942 to 1949 and again from 1960 to 1961) and President of the Professorial Board (from 1951 to 1956).
Professor Jones initiated a program of research into the chemistry of natural (plant) products. He held officer positions in the Royal Society of Queensland and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. He led a public meeting in City Hall in 1957 to protest against State Government legislation that threatened the University’s autonomy in making appointments. He was awarded a CBE in 1960 and received honorary doctorates from UQ and the University of Newcastle.
The lecture was not offered in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2022 it is offered every second year, alternating with the School's other chemistry public lecture, the Bertram Dillon Steele Lecture.
Read more about Professor Jones on our history page.