Sir Fraser Stoddart, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, celebrates his 80th birthday on May 24, 2022. Professor Stoddart is a 2016 Chemistry Nobel Laureate and well-known for his pioneering research on supramolecular chemistry and molecular machines.
His research has led to the template-directed synthesis of a wide range of mechanically interlocked molecules, based on molecular recognition and self-assembly processes. Bistable variants of these compounds can be used as switches, e.g., in molecular electronic devices and drug-delivery systems.
Life and Career
James Fraser Stoddart was born in 1942 in Edinburgh, UK. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in 1966. After postdoctoral work at Queen’s University, Canada, he became a Lecturer in Chemistry at Sheffield University, UK. In 1990, he moved to the Chair of Organic Chemistry at Birmingham University, UK, and served as Head of the School of Chemistry there from 1993 to 1997 before moving to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, as the Saul Winstein Professor of Chemistry.
In 2002, Stoddart became the Acting Co-Director of the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), Los Angeles, CA, USA. In 2003, he became the Fred Kavli Chair of NanoSystems Sciences, and he served from this time through August 2007 as the Director of the CNSI. Since 2008, he has been a Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, and also serves as Director of the Center for the Chemistry of Integrated Systems.
Awards
Stoddart was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Jean-Pierre Sauvage, University of Strasbourg, France, and Bernard L. Feringa, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.” Among numerous other honors, he has received the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry and the Albert Einstein World Prize in Science in 2007, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society of London and the Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2008, and the Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in 2014. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2007 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II.
Stoddart is a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, UK, the German Academy of Natural Sciences Leopoldina, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Chemistry Europe Fellow, as well as an Honorary Fellow of the RSC and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, UK.
Selected Publications
- Fluorescence Quenching by Redox Molecular Pumping,
Xuesong Li, Arthur H. G. David, Long Zhang, Bo Song, Yang Jiao, Damien Sluysmans, Yunyan Qiu, Yong Wu, Xingang Zhao, Yuanning Feng, Lorenzo Mosca, J. Fraser Stoddart,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 3572–3579.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c12480 - Syntheses of three-dimensional catenanes under kinetic control,
Yong Wu, Qing-Hui Guo, Yunyan Qiu, Jacob A. Weber, Ryan M. Young, Laura Bancroft, Yang Jiao, Hongliang Chen, Bo Song, Wenqi Liu, Yuanning Feng, Xingang Zhao, Xuesong Li, Long Zhang, Xiao-Yang Chen, Hao Li, Michael R. Wasielewski, J. Fraser Stoddart,
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118573119 - BODIPY-Based Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity for the Photocatalytic Detoxification of a Chemical Threat,
Ahmet Atilgan, Yassine Beldjoudi, Jierui Yu, Kent O. Kirlikovali, Jacob A. Weber, Jian Liu, Dahee Jung, Pravas Deria, Timur Islamoglu, J. Fraser Stoddart, Omar K. Farha, Joseph T. Hupp,
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 12596–12605.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c21750 - Large-Pore Apertures in a Series of Metal-Organic Frameworks,
Hexiang Deng, Sergio Grunder, Kyle E. Cordova, Cory Valente, Hiroyasu Furukawa, Mohamad Hmadeh, Felipe Gándara, Adam C. Whalley, Zheng Liu, Shunsuke Asahina, Hiroyoshi Kazumori, Michael O’Keeffe, Osamu Terasaki, J. Fraser Stoddart, Omar M. Yaghi,
Science 2012, 336, 1018–1023.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1220131 - Interlocked and Intertwined Structures and Superstructures,
David B. Amabilino, J. Fraser Stoddart,
Chem. Rev. 2002, 95, 2725–2828.
https://doi.org/10.1021/cr00040a005 - Dynamic Covalent Chemistry,
Stuart J. Rowan, Stuart J. Cantrill, Graham R. L. Cousins, Jeremy K. M. Sanders, J. Fraser Stoddart,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 898–952.
https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3773(20020315)41:6<898::AID-ANIE898>3.0.CO;2-E - Artificial Molecular Machines,
Vincenzo Balzani, Alberto Credi, Françisco M. Raymo, J. Fraser Stoddart.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 3348–3391.
https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3773(20001002)39:19<3348::AID-ANIE3348>3.0.CO;2-X - A [2]Catenane-Based Solid State Electronically Reconfigurable Switch,
Charles P. Collier, Gunter Mattersteig, Eric W. Wong, Yi Luo, Kristen Beverly, José Sampaio, Françisco M. Raymo, J. Fraser Stoddart, James R. Heath,
Science 2000, 289, 1172–1175.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.289.5482.1172 - Electronically Configurable Molecular-Based Logic Gates,
C. P. Collier, E. W. Wong, M. Belohradský, F. M. Raymo, J. F. Stoddart, P. J. Kuekes, R. S. Williams, J. R. Heath,
Science 1999, 285, 391–394.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5426.391 - Self-Assembly in Natural and Unnatural Systems,
Douglas Philp, J. Fraser Stoddart,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 1154–1196.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.199611541
Also of Interest
- Sir Fraser Stoddart, USA, on the importance of internationality in science as well as formative moments in his life
- Chemistry Europe Fellows 2018/2019,
ChemitryViews 2020.
Chemistry Europe is proud to honor its Fellows for their support and contributions towards the European joint publishing venture
