24th Nagoya Medals of Organic Chemistry

24th Nagoya Medals of Organic Chemistry

Author: ChemViews Magazine

The Nagoya Medals of Organic Chemistry have been awarded to David W. C. MacMillan, Princeton University, USA (Gold Medal, pictured left), and Chihaya Adachi, Kyushu University, Japan (Silver Medal, pictured right). The award is financially supported by the MSD Life Science Foundation, Tokyo, Japan.

The Gold Award is presented annually to a chemist who has made significant original contributions to the field of organic chemistry in its broadest sense. The Silver Award goes to a scientist based in Japan whose research has had a major impact on the field of synthetic organic chemistry.

David W. C. MacMillan studied chemistry at the University of Glasgow, UK. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of California, Irvine, USA, under the supervision of Larry Overman. From 1996 to 1998, he performed postdoctoral research with Professor Dave Evans at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. He then started his independent career at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. MacMillan joined the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, USA, in 2000, and was appointed Earle C. Anthony Chair of Organic Chemistry there in 2004. In 2006, he was appointed A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Merck Center for Catalysis at Princeton University, NJ, USA. In 2001, MacMillan became James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University.

Among other honors, Mac Millan has received the Thieme-IUPAC Prize in Organic Synthesis in 2006, the Ryoji Noyori Prize from the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan, in 2017, and the Gabor A. Somorjai Award for Creative Research in Catalysis from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2018.

His research focuses on the development of general catalysis concepts in organic chemistry and their application to complex targets. His interests include organocatalysis, cascade catalysis, synergistic catalysis, and photoredox catalysis.

Chihaya Adachi studied chemistry at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he obtained his Bachelor degree in 1986. He received his Master of Science degree in 1988 and his Ph.D. in materials science and technology in 1991, both from Kyushu University. He joined the Chitose Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, in 2004 and returned to Kyushu University in 2005. Adachi currently is the Director of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA) at Kyushu University.

Among other honors, Adachi has received the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology in 2007 and the Japan Society of Applied Physics Fellow Award in 2016.

Adachi’s research focuses on the development of new organic electronics. His interests include organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), high-performance organic (light-emitting) transistors, organic photovoltaics, organic memories, organic laser diodes, and flexible optoelectronic devices.


Selected Publications by David W. C. MacMillan


Selected Publications by Chihaya Adachi


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