The Nagoya Medals of Organic Chemistry 2016 have been awarded to Stephen L. Buchwald, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, (Gold Medal, pictured left) and Masaya Sawamura, Hokkaido University, Japan, (Silver Medal, pictured right). The award is financially supported by the MSD Life Science Foundation.

The Gold Award is presented annually to a chemist who has made a significant original contribution to the field of organic chemistry. The Silver Award goes to a young Japanese scientist whose research has had an impact in the field of synthetic organic chemistry.

Stephen L. Buchwald studied chemistry at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, and at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, where he received his Ph.D. in 1982 under the supervision of Jeremy R. Knowles. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technolog (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, with Professor Robert H. Grubbs. In 1984, he became Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT. After being promoted to Associate Professor in 1989 and to Full Professor in 1993, Buchwald was named the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry there in 1997.

Buchwald’s research focuses on organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry, and organometallic chemistry. His aim is to devise useful catalytic processes.

Among many other honors, Stephen Buchwald has received the Award in Organometallic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2000, the ACS’s Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 2006, the Arthur C. Cope Award from the ACS in 2013, and the Linus Pauling Medal from the ACS in 2014. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He serves as a consultant to a number of companies and is a member of the Editorial Board of Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis.

Masaya Sawamura studied chemistry at Kyoto University, Japan, where he received his Ph.D. under the supervision of Yoshihiko Ito in 1989. He remained in Kyoto as Assistant Professor. In 1995, he joined the Tokyo Institute of Technology as Assistant Professor and then moved to the University of Tokyo. In 2001, he joined Hokkaido University and was made Distinguished Professor there in 2016.

Masaya Sawamura’s research interests include surface-supported and nanoscale catalysts, as well as highly selective allylations.

Among other honors, Sawamura received the Chemical Society of Japan Award for Young Chemists in 1996, the Chemical Society of Japan Award for Creative Work in 2012, and the Hokkaido University President’s Award for Outstanding Research in 2014.

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Selected Publications by Stephen L. Buchwald

• Biaryl Phosphine Based Pd(II) Amido Complexes: The Effect of Ligand Structure on Reductive Elimination,
  Pedro Luis Arrechea, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 12486–12493.
  DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b05990
• Regiodivergent and Diastereoselective CuH-Catalyzed Allylation of Imines with Terminal Allenes,
  Richard Y. Liu, Yang Yang, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 14077–14080.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201608446
• Palladium-Catalyzed Fluorination of Cyclic Vinyl Triflates: Effect of TESCF₃ as an Additive,
  Yuxuan Ye, Takashi Takada, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 15559–15563.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201608927
• Catalysts for Suzuki−Miyaura Coupling Processes:  Scope and Studies of the Effect of Ligand Structure,
  Timothy E. Barder, Shawn D. Walker, Joseph R. Martinelli, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 4685–4696.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja042491j
• Biaryl Phosphane Ligands in Palladium-Catalyzed Amination,
  David S. Surry, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 6338–6361.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.200800497
• Highly Active Palladium Catalysts for Suzuki Coupling Reactions,
  John P. Wolfe, Robert A. Singer, Bryant H. Yang, Stephen L. Buchwald,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 9550–9561.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja992130h

Selected Publications by Masaya Sawamura

• Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Allyl-Allyl Coupling between Allylic Boronates and Phosphates with a Phenol/N-Heterocyclic Carbene Chiral Ligand,
  Yuto Yasuda, Hirohisa Ohmiya, Masaya Sawamura,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 10816–10820.
  DOI: 10.1002/anie.201605125
• Copper-Catalyzed Semihydrogenation of Internal Alkynes with Molecular Hydrogen,
  Takamichi Wakamatsu, Kazunori Nagao, Hirohisa Ohmiya, Masaya Sawamura,
  Organometallics 2016, 35, 1354–1357.
  DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.6b00126
• Synthesis, Coordination Properties, and Catalytic Application of Triarylmethane-Monophosphines,
  Tomohiro Iwai, Ryotaro Tanaka, Masaya Sawamura,
  Organometallics 2016, 35, 3959–3969.
  DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.6b00752
• Directed Ortho Borylation of Functionalized Arenes Catalyzed by a Silica-Supported Compact Phosphine−Iridium System,
  Soichiro Kawamorita, Hirohisa Ohmiya, Kenji Hara, Atsushi Fukuoka, Masaya Sawamura,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 5058–5059.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja9008419
• Reversible Mechanochromic Luminescence of [(C₆F₅Au)₂(μ-1,4-Diisocyanobenzene)],
  Hajime Ito, Tomohisa Saito, Naoya Oshima, Noboru Kitamura, Shoji Ishizaka, Yukio Hinatsu, Makoto Wakeshima, Masako Kato, Kiyoshi Tsuge, Masaya Sawamura,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 10044–10045.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja8019356
• Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Substitution of Allylic Carbonates with Diboron: An Efficient Route to Optically Active α-Chiral Allylboronates,
  Hajime Ito, Shinichiro Ito, Yusuke Sasaki, Kou Matsuura, Masaya Sawamura,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 14856–14857.
  DOI: 10.1021/ja076634o

Also of Interest

• Buchwald Receives 2014 Linus Pauling Medal,
  ChemViews Mag. 2014.
  Stephen L. Buchwald, USA, is awarded for his outstanding contributions to chemistry meriting national and international recognition