The Emil Fischer Medal 2018 has been awarded to Thorsten Bach, Technical University of Munich, Germany, by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). The prize was presented at the ORCHEM conference in Berlin, Germany, on September 10, 2018.

The award honors outstanding work in the area of organic chemistry. Bach receives the prize for the development and application of new synthetic methods, in particular for catalytic, thermal, and photochemical processes that promote the advancement of organic chemistry.

Thorsten Bach studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. He received his Ph.D. in 1991 under the supervision of Manfred Reetz from the University of Marburg, Germany. Bach then was a Postdoctoral Researcher with David Evans at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, and completed his habilitation in 1996 at the University of Münster, Germany.  In 1997, he became Professor at the University of Marburg. He joined the Technical University of Munich as Professor of Organic Chemistry in 2000.

Bach is a Member of the German National Academy of Science Leopoldina and of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Among other honors, Bach has received the Novartis European Young Investigator Award in 2003, the Degussa Award for Chirality in Chemistry in 2006, and the Horst Pracejus Prize from the GDCh in 2017.

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Selected Publications

• α-Thio Carbocations (Thionium Ions) as Intermediates in Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Reactions of Enone-Derived 1,3-Dithianes and 1,3-Dithiolanes,
  Christoph Brenninger, Thorsten Bach,
  Top. Catal. 2018, 61, 623–629.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-018-0905-6
• Biosynthesis and Heterologous Production of Vioprolides: Rational Biosynthetic Engineering and Unprecedented 4-Methylazetidinecarboxylic Acid Formation,
  Fu Yan, David Auerbach, Yi Chai, Lena Keller, Qiang Tu, Stephan Hüttel, Amelie Glemser, Hanusch A. Grab, Thorsten Bach, Youming Zhang, Rolf Müller,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 8754–8759.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201802479
• C–H alkylation reactions of indoles mediated by Pd(II) and norbornene: applications and recent developments,
  Marcus Wegmann, Michael Henkel, Thorsten Bach,
  Org. Biomol. Chem. 2018, 16, 5376–5385.
  https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ob01025k
• Enantioselective Catalysis of Photochemical Reactions,
  Richard Brimioulle, Dominik Lenhart, Mark M. Maturi, Thorsten Bach,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 3872–3890.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201411409
• Pd(II)-Catalyzed Regioselective 2-Alkylation of Indoles via a Norbornene-Mediated C–H Activation: Mechanism and Applications,
  Lei Jiao, Eberhardt Herdtweck, Thorsten Bach,
  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 14563–14572.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/ja3058138
• Photochemical Reactions as Key Steps in Natural Product Synthesis,
  Thorsten Bach, Jörg P. Hehn,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 1000–1045.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201002845

Also of Interest

• Horst Pracejus Prize for Thorsten Bach,
  ChemViews Mag. 2017.
  Outstanding work in asymmetric catalysis honored
• Dirk Trauner Receives Emil Fischer Medal,
  ChemViews Mag. 2016.
  Outstanding work in the area of organic chemistry honored
• Emil Fischer Medal 2014,
  ChemViews Mag. 2014.
  Professor Matthias Beller, Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse (LIKAT), Rostock, Germany, honored
• Emil Fischer Medal for H. Waldmann,
  Jonathan Faiz/ChemViews,
  ChemViews Mag. 2012.
  Professor Herbert Waldmann, Germany, is the recipient of the 2012 Emil Fischer Medal, awarded for work in organic chemistry
• J. Mulzer: Emil Fischer Medal,
  ChemViews Mag. 2010.
  Prof. Dr. Johann Mulzer, University of Vienna, Austria, receives the 2010 Emil Fischer Medal.