Speakers | ACS Publications Symposium: Catalysis for Organic Synthesis

Dr. Rebecca Ruck

Associate Editor, ACS Catalysis

Associate Vice President, Process R&D, MSD

Rebecca T. Ruck (she/her/hers) is Associate Vice President, MSD Process Research & Development, where she leads the Enabling Technologies group, a role she proposed that has created an innovation incubator of biologists, chemists, engineers, and data scientists. Her team is making impressive contributions across all pipeline projects, including the application of an unprecedented biocatalytic cascade sequence to the manufacturing route of islatravir, a pioneering photochemical flow process for belzutifan, and an immobilized enzymatic flow reaction for nemtabrutinib. Becky has been actively involved in the external research community through academic collaborations, creation of Merck’s university lectureship series, and recruiting efforts that have led to an unrivaled increase in the number of women in the Process R&D team. She has expanded her women in chemistry efforts externally through the WCC-Merck Research Award and Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry (EWOC) conference and internally through expanded Diversity, Equity & Inclusion accomplishments, such as a series of D&I-themed TED-style talks that have greatly impacted the department’s understanding and appreciation of these important topics. For these efforts, Becky was recognized with the 2018 ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences and as a 2020 HBA Rising Star and ACS Fellow. In addition, she currently holds positions on the ACS Petroleum Research Fund and the MIT Chemistry Visiting Committee and is an Associate Editor at ACS Catalysis. Dr. Ruck graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University, obtained her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University in the lab of Prof. Eric Jacobsen, and conducted NIH-funded postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, with Prof. Robert Bergman.

Selected ACS Publications

Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry (EWOC) at Five Years: Giving Back and Getting Back

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.3c02082

The Catalysis Laboratory at Merck: 20 Years of Catalyzing Innovation

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.2c05159

Using an Automated Monitoring Platform for Investigations of Biphasic Reactions

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.9b03953

Prof. Scott J. Miller

Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Organic Chemistry

Irénée du Pont Professor of Chemistry, Yale University, United States

Website › Twitter ›

Scott J. Miller was born on December 11, 1966, in Buffalo, NY. He received his B.A. (1989), M.A. (1989), and Ph.D. (1994) from Harvard University, where he worked with David Evans as a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow. Subsequently, he traveled to California Institute of Technology where he was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow with Robert Grubbs until 1996. For the following decade, he was a member of the faculty at Boston College, until joining the faculty at Yale University in 2006. In 2008, he was appointed as the Irénée du Pont Professor of Chemistry. Professor Miller’s research program focuses on asymmetric catalysis. His group employs strategies that include catalyst design, the development of techniques for catalyst screening, and the application of new catalysts to the preparation of biologically active agents. Several current interests are the selective functionalization of complex molecules, exploration of analogies between synthetic catalysts and enzymes, discovery of effective antibiotics despite increasing resistance, and engineering of the biosynthetic apparatus for nonextant bond formation. Professor Miller has served in number of capacities for public and private organizations. For example, he recently completed terms on the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Advisory Council and the Center for Scientific Review, both convened by the Director of the National Institutes of Health. Prof. Miller is Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Organic Chemistry.

Selected ACS Publications

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Atropisomeric N-Aryl 1,2,4-Triazoles

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.2c02727

On the Ability of the N-O bond to Support a Stable Stereogenic Axis: Peptide-Catalyzed Atroposelective N-Oxidation

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.3c01385

Photocatalytic Reductive Olefin Hydrodifluoroalkylation Enabled by Tertiary Amine Reductants Compatible with Complex Systems

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.2c01231

Prof. Paul Chirik

Editor in Chief, Organometallics

Edwards S Sanford Professor, Princeton University, United States

Twitter ›

Prof. Paul J. Chirik, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Chemistry and current chair of the Department of Chemistry at Princeton University, is a synthetic chemist with broad interests in catalysis and sustainability. His research group focuses on chemical reactions with reduced carbon footprint, reliance on earth abundant rather than precious elements, and new bond disconnections that reduce waste and separations. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he obtained his B.S. in chemistry at Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. at Caltech under the supervision of John Bercaw. Following a brief postdoctoral appointment at MIT, he began his independent career at Cornell University in 2001. In 2006, he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2009 was named the Peter J. W. Debye Professor of Chemistry. In 2011, Chirik and his research group moved to Princeton. His teaching and research have been recognized with the Linus Pauling Medal, an Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, a Packard Fellowship in science and engineering, the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the Eni Environmental Solutions Prize, and the ACS Gabor Samorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis. Prof. Chirik is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, inventor on more than 20 patent applications and current Editor-in-Chief of Organometallics.

Selected ACS Publications

Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Indazole-Containing Enamides Relevant to the Synthesis of Zavegepant Using Neutral and Cationic Cobalt Precatalysts

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.3c01364

Quinoline Pyridine(Imine) Iron Complexes as Catalysts for the 1,4-Hydrovinylation of 1,3-Dienes

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.organomet.3c00356

C(sp3)–C(sp2) Reductive Elimination versus β-Hydride Elimination from Cobalt(III) Intermediates in Catalytic C–H Functionalization

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.3c01874

Prof. Phil Baran

Dr. Richard A. Lerner Endowed Chair

Professor, Department of Chemistry

Scripps Research, United States

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Through his research, Phil Baran explores organic synthesis, one of the great branches of chemistry that has had a profound impact on the betterment and advancement of civilization. In its most modern manifestations, it renders the dream of alchemy (turning something worthless into something valuable) a reality. It places the practitioner into the role of artist, engineer, and astronaut. Baran’s research finds new ways to circumvent the bottlenecks of sustainable, scalable synthesis that allow organic molecules to be more rapidly transformed into viable therapies. The chemical products developed in his lab have shown major utility in a multitude of disease areas and his methods are widely used in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and materials science sectors. Baran received a BS from New York University and a PhD from Scripps Research. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University before returning to Scripps Research as a faculty member. The mission of his laboratory is to simplify the practice of synthesis and, in doing so, educate students and postdoctoral scholars at the intersection of fundamental organic chemistry and translational science. Baran has educated hundreds of scientists over the years, cofounded numerous companies (Sirenas, Vividion, Elsie, and several others in stealth) based on his lab’s research and is the recipient of a notable list of awards and honors that recognize the impact of his research. These include the Danisco Foundation Science Excellence Award, the Manchot Research Professorship Award, the Emanuel Merck Lectureship, the ACS Elias J. Corey Award, the Blavatnik National Laureate in Chemistry Award and a MacArthur Fellowship. Baran is also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Selected ACS Publications

Ni-Electrocatalytic Enantioselective Doubly Decarboxylative C(sp3)–C(sp3) Cross Coupling

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c03337

Decarboxylative Cross-Coupling: A Radical Tool In Medicinal Chemistry

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.2c00286

Chemoselective, Metal-free, (Hetero) Arene Electroreduction Enabled by Rapid Alternating Polarity

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.2c02102

Prof. Davide Bonifazi

Chair Professor in Organic Chemistry, Institute of Organic Chemistry

University of Vienna, Austria

Davide Bonifazi obtained the “Laurea” in “Industrial Chemistry” from the University of Parma (1994-1999), working with Prof. Enrico Dalcanale on organic synthesis and metal-directed self-assembly of cavitands derivatives, then joined the group of Prof. François Diederich as doctoral fellow studying organic functionalization of [60]fullerene and porphyrin derivatives at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich (2000-2004). He was awarded the ETH Silver Medallion for his doctoral dissertation (2005). After a one-year postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Maurizio Prato at University of Trieste, he joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Trieste as a research associate and subsequently as a part-time Professor (2012-2015). In 2006, Bonifazi joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Namur as Junior Professor (2006-2011) and as Professor of Organic Chemistry (2012-2015). From 2015 to 2020 he was Chair Professor of Organic Supramolecular Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University, until his current position as Chair Professor in Organic Chemistry at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Vienna. The Bonifazi research group focuses on the creation of functional organic architectures in interdisciplinary projects through targeted organic synthesis, self-assembly, and self-organization to construct solar-energy harvesting systems and chromophores for photocatalysis and optoelectronic devices.

Selected ACS Publications

O-Annulation to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Tale of Optoelectronic Properties from Five- to Seven-Membered Rings

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.0c01331

Probing Peripheral H-Bonding Functionalities in BN-Doped Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.9b03202

Enantioselective Synthesis of N-Benzylic Heterocycles: A Nickel and Photoredox Dual Catalysis Approach

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.9b03338

Prof. Marisa Kozlowski

Editor-in-Chief, Organic Letters; Editorial Advisory Board, The Journal of Organic Chemistry

University of Pennsylvania, United States

Twitter › LinkedIn ›

Prof. Kozlowski received an A. B. in Chemistry from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, for work on the rational design of enzyme inhibitors under the direction of Paul Bartlett. After studying asymmetric catalysis in the laboratories of David A. Evans at Harvard University as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, she joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and currently holds the rank of Professor of Chemistry. The major focus of the Kozlowski group is the development of new catalytic methods for efficient organic synthesis using computation and high throughout screening. Professor Kozlowski's contributions have been recognized by a DuPont Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Kahn Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, an American Cancer Society Beginning Research Scholar Award, the Philadelphia Organic Chemists’ Club Award in 2010, election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, the Philadelphia ACS Section Award in 2012, election as an American Chemical Society Fellow in 2013, the Charles Ludwig Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020, the Dennis DeTurck Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2021, an ACS Cope Scholar Award in 2022, the Provost’s Award for PhD Teaching and Mentoring, and the Leete Award in 2023. In addition to more than 180 independent publications, Professor Kozlowski coauthored with Professor Patrick Walsh the book “Fundamentals of Asymmetric Catalysis", available from University Science Books. She has served in several leadership roles for the Organic Division of the American Chemical Society and on numerous study sections including a term as Chair of the American Cancer Society CDD Study Section. She is currently Editor-In-Chief of Organic Letters.

Selected ACS Publications:

Visible-light Induced Oxidative Coupling of Phenols and Alkenylphenols with a Recyclable, Solid Photocatalyst

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.2c04122

Net-1,2-HAT of Amidyl Radicals: Toward the Synthesis of 1,2-Diamine Derivatives

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c04376

Chromium-Salen Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Phenols: Mechanism and Origin of the Selectivity

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.9b03890

Prof. Franziska Schoenebeck

Associate Editor, Journal of the American Chemical Society;

Editorial Advisory Board, The Journal of Organic Chemistry and ACS Catalysis

RWTH Aachen University, Germany

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Franziska Schoenebeck is Professor and Chair at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University since the summer of 2016. Professor Schoenebeck was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. From 2001-2008, she studied Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, UK, undertaking her Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry in the group of Prof. John A. Murphy working on the synthesis and application of neutral organic electron donors. In 2008, she moved to California to work with Prof. K. N. Houk at UCLA, where she was involved in computational studies of organic reactivity. In 2010, she joined the faculty of ETH Zürich to start her independent research program. Three years later, she was appointed Professor at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University and promoted to a Chair Professorship in 2016. Her research program is based at the interface of synthetic organic, mechanistic, and computational chemistry with a strong emphasis in homogeneous metal catalysis. Her research has been recognized with several awards and lectureships, including the 2022 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award, the 2020 Klung-Wilhelmy-Wissenschafts-Preis, the 2014 ORCHEM Prize and Dozentenpreis. She serves the chemical community in various roles, including as Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Selected ACS Publications

Machine Learning-Guided Development of Trialkylphosphine Ni(I) Dimers and Applications in Site-Selective Catalysis

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c03403

Orthogonal C–O Bond Construction with Organogermanes

A. Dahiya, A. G. Gevondian, F. Schoenebeck

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c01081

Access to N-Difluoromethyl Amides, (Thio)Carbamates, Ureas, and Formamides

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c13711

Prof. Geraldine Masson

Deputy Editor, ACS Organic & Inorganic Au; Associate Editor, The Journal of Organic Chemistry; Editorial Advisory Board, Organic Letters

ICSN-CNRS/Paris-Saclay University

LinkedIn › Twitter ›

Prof. Géraldine Masson is a CNRS Research Director at the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) affiliated with Paris-Saclay University and serves as the codirector of Labcom HitCat, a joint laboratory between SEQENS group and CNRS. In 2003, she completed her Ph.D. at Joseph Fourier University in France under the guidance of Dr. Sandrine Py and Prof. Yannick Vallée. Subsequently, as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow from 2003 to 2005, she worked at the University of Amsterdam in the group of Prof. Jan van Maarseveen and Prof. Henk Hiemstra. In late 2005, she was appointed as Chargé de Recherche by CNRS in the group led by Prof. Jieping Zhu at ICSN, before initiating her independent career in 2011. She was promoted to Research Director DR2 in 2014 and Research Director DR1 in 2020. Prof. Masson is recipient of the Novacap Prize from the French Académie des Sciences (2017), the J.-M. Lehn Prize from the French Chemical Society (2019), and the Cannizzaro-Arnaudon Lectureship from the Italian Chemical Society (2022). Her research group focuses on developing new organocatalytic enantioselective reactions, exploring innovative methods, particularly through photoredox catalysis and electrosynthesis. The goal is to use these methods to produce a range of natural and synthetic molecules known for their diverse biological activities. She currently serves as an Associate Editor of The Journal of Organic Chemistry and Deputy Editor of ACS Organic & Inorganic Au.

Selected ACS Publications:

Preparation of Chiral Photosensitive Organocatalysts and Their Application for the Enantioselective Synthesis of 1,2-Diamines

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.joc.0c01931

Recent Advances in C(sp3)–C(sp3) and C(sp3)–C(sp2) Bonds Formation Through Cathodic Reactions: Reductive and Convergent Paired Electrolyses

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsorginorgau.1c00037

Enantioselective and Regiodivergent Synthesis of Dihydro-1,2-oxazines from Triene-Carbamates via Chiral Phosphoric Acid-Catalysis

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c12015

Prof. Morten Meldal

2022 Chemistry Nobel Laureate

University of Copenhagen

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Morten Meldal is a Danish chemist and professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. He was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, alongside Barry Sharpless and Carolyn Bartozzi, for the groundbreaking development of "Click chemistry and biorthogonal chemistry." He also received the 2009 American Chemical Society Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in peptide chemistry, as well as the 2011 Vincent du Vigneaud Award of the American Peptide Society. Prof. Meldal obtained his MSc in chemical engineering and PhD under the supervision of Klaus Bock from the Technical University of Denmark. His PhD work focused on synthesis of carbohydrates, and after working as a postdoctoral fellow in organic chemistry at Cambridge University, he was professor and manager of a research synthesis group at Carlsberg Research Laboratory. In 2011, Meldal became professor at the Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen, where he headed the CECB research center within the field of chemical biology, with focus on peptide and combinatorial chemistry. Meldal has co-founded three companies, Combio, Versamatrix, and Betamab Therapeutics ApS, which utilized the SPOCC and CECB platforms in biotechnological and pharmacological research and development. Throughout Meldal’s career, his research has had innovative influences on methods in peptide and combinatorial chemistry. His involvement in method development of solid-phase and combinatorial peptide synthesis, as well as development of the CuAAc Click reaction, have become mainstream methods for application in bioorganic and organic synthesis.

Selected ACS Publications

Hydrodynamic Control of Alzheimer Aβ Fibrillation with Glucosaminic Acid Containing Click-Cyclized β-Bodies

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c12118

Computational Evolution of Threonine-Rich β-Hairpin Peptides Mimicking Specificity and Affinity of Antibodies

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.8b00614

Sustainable Flow Synthesis of Encoded Beads for Combinatorial Chemistry and Chemical Biology

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscombsci.8b00052

ACS PUBLICATIONS SYPOSIUM

Catalysis for Organic Synthesis

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

INVITED SPEAKERS

Prof. Mariola Tortosa

Prof. Morten Meldal

Prof. Erick Carreira

Prof. Helma Wennemers

Prof. Antonio Echavarren

Dr. Rebecca Ruck

Prof. Paul Chirik

Prof. Daniele Leonori

Prof. Franziska Schoenebeck

Prof. Phil Baran

Prof. Syuzanna Harutyunyan

Prof. Davide Bonifazi

Prof. Joanna Wencel-Delord

Prof. Scott Miller

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Dr. Daniel Kaiser

Prof. Marisa Kozlowski

Prof. Geraldine Masson

Prof. Nuno Maulide

Dr. Kai Rossen

Dr. Saad Shaaban

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