The Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) has awarded its highest honor, Honorary Membership, to François Diederich, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in recognition of his service for chemistry overall and the society in particular. Diederich served on the GDCh Board of Directors from 2008 to 2015, as Vice-President of the society in 2011/2012, and on the Editorial Board of Angewandte Chemie from 1995 to 2013. The distinction was presented on March 18, 2019, at the Meeting of the Association of German University Professors of Chemistry (Chemiedozententagung 2019) in Koblenz, Germany.
François Diederich, born in Luxembourg in 1952, studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he received his Ph.D. in 1979. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, from 1979 to 1981, and then served as a Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. He returned to UCLA as Associate Professor in 1985 and was promoted to Full Professor in 1989. Since 1992, he has served as Professor of Organic Chemistry at ETH Zurich.
François Diederich’s research interests include molecular recognition in chemistry and biology, modern medicinal chemistry, supramolecular nanosystems, and carbon-rich materials.
Among other honors, Diederich has received the Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society in 1979, the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1992, the Janssen Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis in 2000, the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the GDCh in 2006, the ACS Ronald Breslow Award for Achievements in Biomimetic Chemistry in 2007, the Adolf von Baeyer Medal of the GDCh in 2011, and an honorary doctoral degree from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), Haifa, Israel, in 2012. In recognition of the Honorary Membership, Angewandte Chemie has created a virtual issue featuring a selection of Diederich’s papers.
Selected Publications
- Structure modulated charge transfer in carbon atomic wires,
A. Milani, V. Barbieri, A. Facibeni, V. Russo, A. Li Bassi, A. Lucotti, M. Tommasini, M. D. Tzirakis, F. Diederich, C. S. Casari,
Sci. Rep. 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38367-9 - Thioether‐Functionalized Quinone‐Based Resorcin[4]arene Cavitands: Electroswitchable Molecular Actuators,
Jovana V. Milić, Thomas Schneeberger, Michal Zalibera, Karolina Z. Milowska, Quy K. Ong, Nils Trapp, Laurent Ruhlmann, Corinne Boudon, Carlo Thilgen, François Diederich,
Helv. Chim. Acta 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.201800225 - Chalcogen Bonding “2S–2N Squares” versus Competing Interactions: Exploring the Recognition Properties of Sulfur,
Mark R. Ams, Nils Trapp, Anatol Schwab, Jovana V. Milić, François Diederich,
Chem. Eur. J. 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201804261 - Fluorine in Pharmaceuticals: Looking Beyond Intuition,
K. Muller, C. Faeh, F. Diederich,
Science 2007, 317, 1881–1886.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1131943 - Interactions with Aromatic Rings in Chemical and Biological Recognition,
Emmanuel A. Meyer, Ronald K. Castellano, François Diederich,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 1210–1250.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200390319 - Photophysical properties of sixty atom carbon molecule (C60),
James W. Arbogast, Aleksander P. Darmanyan, Christopher S. Foote, F. N. Diederich, R. L. Whetten, Y. Rubin, Marcos M. Alvarez, Samir J. Anz,
J. Phys. Chem. 1991, 95, 11–12.
https://doi.org/10.1021/j100154a006
Also of Interest
- Video: Angewandte Festsymposium: François Diederich,
Mario Müller
Chemistryviews.org 2017.
Teaser for François Diederich’s lecture at the Angewandte Festsymposium on Sept 11, 2017 - Author Profile: François Diederich,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 3302–3304.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201200546 - François Diederich Honored,
ChemViews Mag. 2012.
François Diederich, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, receives Doctor Honoris Causa by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel - François Diederich Receives Baeyer Medal,
ChemViews Mag. 2011.
The Adolf von Baeyer Medal of the GDCh is awarded to François Diederich, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
