Jiro Tsuji Awarded 2014 Tetrahedron Prize

The 2014 Tetrahedron Prize goes to “two of the most creative and influential synthetic organic chemists of our time”, Professors Jiro Tsuji and Barry Trost.

AsianScientist (Nov. 3, 2014) – Professor Jiro Tsuji from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Professor Barry Trost from Stanford University have been jointly awarded the 2014 Tetrahedron Prize for their outstanding contributions to organic chemistry.

Both Professors Tsuji and Trost have made numerous contributions to the general idea of developing and applying transition metal-catalyzed reactions in the broad arena of organic chemistry. For example, since its discovery in 1965, the renowned Tsuji-Trost reaction has been widely exploited in synthetic organic chemistry.

Additionally, Tsuji pioneered the discovery and development of many palladium-catalyzed reactions that are now routinely used in synthesis, and Trost masterfully developed and applied a variety of ring-forming and other reactions catalyzed by transition metals such as rhodium and molybdenum.

Professor Stephen Martin, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Tetrahedron Journals said, “The significance of the transition metal-catalyzed transformations discovered and pioneered by Trost and Tsuji is reflected by their widespread adoption in academic and industrial laboratories and their use in several important industrial processes, globally. The 2014 Tetrahedron Prize truly honors two of the most creative and influential synthetic organic chemists of our time.”

Prof. Tsuji commented, “It is a great honor for me to receive the prestigious Tetrahedron Prize 2014. As a pioneer I started independent research on organopalladium chemistry applied to organic synthesis in the early 1960’s, which became my life-long work. I discovered and developed a number of palladium-catalyzed reactions and I am happy that some of the reactions are useful in both laboratories and industries.”

“Taking this opportunity, I want to thank all co-workers of Basic Research Lab. of Toray Inc., Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Okayama University of Science for their contributions to my research on organopalladium chemistry, without which I could not receive this Prize.”

The Tetrahedron prize consists of a monetary award of US$10,000 and will be presented during the 2015 Fall National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Boston on August 16-20, 2015.

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Source: Elsevier.
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