Scott E. Denmark, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, has been awarded the Paracelsus Prize 2020 by the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS). The award lecture took place at the virtual SCS Fall Meeting 2020 on August 25, 2020. The Paracelsus Prize is awarded to scholars who have produced outstanding scientific research in the field of chemistry at an international level. The award includes CHF 20,000 and a medal in gold (pictured below).
Denmark was honored for his contributions to the development of new catalytic concepts and organic synthesis processes. He has, for example, developed asymmetric Lewis-base-catalyzed reactions [1], used organosilanols for cross-coupling reactions [2], devised an approach for the development of asymmetric catalysis that uses chemoinformatics and machine learning [3], and reported the first comprehensive understanding of the Soai reaction [4].
Scott E. Denmark was born on June 17, 1953, in Lynbrook, NY, USA. He studied chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, AM, USA, and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland, where he received his doctoral degree (D.Sc.Tech.) 
under the supervision of Albert Eschenmoser in 1980. Denmark joined the University of Illinois as Assistant Professor of Chemistry in 1980. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1986, and to Full Professor in 1987. Since 1991, he has served as Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois.
Among many other honors, Denmark has received the A. C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1989, the Pedler Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in 2002/03, the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 2003, the Prelog Medal from the ETH Zurich in 2007, the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods from the ACS in 2009, and the EROS Best Reagent of the Year Award in 2019. He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, as well as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the RSC, and the ACS.
Among other commitments, Denmark serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Organic Syntheses and Organic Reactions. He is also a Member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Journal of Organic Chemistry, Organic Letters, and Tetrahedron.
References
- [1] Lewis Base Catalysis in Organic Synthesis,
Edwin Vedejs, Scott E. Denmark (Eds.),
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2016.
ISBN: 978-3-527-33618-0 - [2] Elucidating the Role of the Boronic Esters in the Suzuki–Miyaura Reaction: Structural, Kinetic, and Computational Investigations,
Andy A. Thomas, Andrew F. Zahrt, Connor P. Delaney, Scott E. Denmark,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 4401–4416.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b00400 - [3] Prediction of higher-selectivity catalysts by computer-driven workflow and machine learning,
Andrew F. Zahrt, Jeremy J. Henle, Brennan T. Rose, Yang Wang, William T. Darrow, Scott E. Denmark,
Science 2019, 363, eaau5631–.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau5631 - [4] Demystifying the asymmetry-amplifying, autocatalytic behaviour of the Soai reaction through structural, mechanistic and computational studies,
Soumitra V. Athavale, Adam Simon, Kendall N. Houk, Scott E. Denmark,
Nat. Chem. 2020, 12, 412–423.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0421-8
Other Selected Publications
- Development of a Computer-Guided Workflow for Catalyst Optimization. Descriptor Validation, Subset Selection, and Training Set Analysis,
Jeremy J. Henle, Andrew F. Zahrt, Brennan T. Rose, William T. Darrow, Yang Wang, Scott E. Denmark,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 11578–11592.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.0c04715 - Enantioselective Synthesis of γ-Lactams by Lewis Base Catalyzed Sulfenoamidation of Alkenes,
Jesse L. Panger, Scott E. Denmark,
Org. Lett. 2019, 22, 2501–2505.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.9b04347 - Lewis Base Catalysis in Organic Synthesis,
Edwin Vedejs, Scott E. Denmark (Eds.),
Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2016.
ISBN: 978-3-527-33618-0 - Catalytic, Asymmetric Halofunctionalization of Alkenes – A Critical Perspective,
Scott E. Denmark, William E. Kuester, Matthew T. Burk,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 10938–10953.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201204347 - Lewis Base Catalysis in Organic Synthesis,
Scott E. Denmark, Gregory L. Beutner,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 1560–1638.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200604943 - Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions of Organosilanols and Their Salts: Practical Alternatives to Boron- and Tin-Based Methods,
Scott E. Denmark, Christopher S. Regens,
Acc. Chem. Res. 2008, 41, 1486–1499.
https://doi.org/10.1021/ar800037p
Also of Interest
- Event: SCS Fall Meeting 2020 (Online)
One of the largest annual research conferences held in Switzerland - Paracelsus Prize 2016,
ChemViews Mag. 2016.
Solar cell pioneer Michael Grätzel honored - Richard Schrock Awarded,
ChemViews/Jonathan Faiz,
ChemViews Mag. 2014.
The Paracelsus Prize is the highest honor of the SCS
