Omar M. Yaghi, University of California, Berkeley, USA, has received the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal 2020 from the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society). The award was presented at the GDCh Wissenschaftsforum 2021 on September 1, 2021. The GDCh awards the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for special merits in chemistry to foreign chemists or to German scientists who are not chemists but who have achieved great things for chemistry.

Omar M. Yaghi receives the award for his outstanding work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). In addition, Yaghi pioneered molecular “weaving” and synthesized the world’s first atomic- and molecular-level woven material (COF-505). In addition to his academic achievements, the GDCh also recognizes Yaghi’s commitment to supporting young academics, especially in emerging and developing countries.

Omar M. Yaghi studied chemistry at the State University of New York-Albany, NY, USA, and the University of Illinois-Urbana, USA, where he received his Ph.D. in 1990. He was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, from 1990 to 1992. Yaghi then joined the Arizona State University, USA, as Assistant Professor. In 1999, he moved to the University of Michigan, USA, as Robert W. Parry Professor. From 2006 to 2011, he served as Irving and Jean Stone Chair in Physical Sciences and Christopher S. Foote Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

Since 2012, Yaghi has served as James and Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, and Senior Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CA, USA. Yaghi is the Founding Director of the Berkeley Global Science Institute, which builds research centers in developing countries and supports young scientists. He is also Co-Director of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at UC Berkeley and the California Research Alliance by BASF.

Among many other awards, Yaghi has received the Sacconi Medal from the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) in 2004, the U.S. Materials Research Society Medal in 2007, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in the Chemistry of Materials in 2009, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Centenary Prize in 2010, the RSC Spiers Memorial Award in 2017, the Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry International Award in 2017, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Gregori Aminoff Prize in 2019. Yaghi is an Elected Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and serves on numerous Editorial Boards and Advisory Boards of scientific journals.

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Selected Publications

• Docking of CuI and AgI in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Adsorption and Separation of Xenon,
  H. Wang, Z. Shi, J. Yang, T. Sun, B. Rungtaweevoranit, H. Lyu, Y.-B. Zhang, O. M. Yaghi,
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 3417–3421.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202015262
• ‘Eye’ of the molecule—a viewpoint,
  S. Lee, O. M. Yaghi,
  Faraday Discuss. 2021.
  https://doi.org/10.1039/d1fd00032b
• The Reticular Chemist,
  O. M. Yaghi,
  Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 8432–8434.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04327
• Weaving of organic threads into a crystalline covalent organic framework,
  Y. Liu, Y. Ma, Y. Zhao, X. Sun, F. Gandara, H. Furukawa, Z. Liu, H. Zhu, C. Zhu, K. Suenaga, P. Oleynikov, A. S. Alshammari, X. Zhang, O. Terasaki, O. M. Yaghi,
  Science 2016, 351, 365–369.
  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad4011
• The Chemistry and Applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks,
  H. Furukawa, K. E. Cordova, M. O’Keeffe, O. M. Yaghi,
  Science 2013, 341, 1230444.
  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1230444
• Reticular synthesis and the design of new materials,
  O. M. Yaghi, M. O’Keeffe, N. W. Ockwig, H. K. Chae, M. Eddaoudi, J. Kim,
  Nature 2003, 423, 705–714.
  https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01650
• Systematic Design of Pore Size and Functionality in Isoreticular MOFs and Their Application in Methane Storage,
  M. Eddaoudi,
  Science 2002, 295, 469–472.
  https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1067208

Also of Interest

• Covalent Organic Frameworks with Ester Links,
  ChemistryViews 2020.
  First crystalline ester-linked COFs related to common polyesters
• Stable Olefin-Linked Covalent Organic Framework,
  ChemistryViews 2019.
  First unsubstituted olefin-linked COF was synthesized via aldol condensation
• August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for Michael Grätzel,
  ChemistryViews 2018.
  Solar cell pioneer honored by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society)
• 125th Anniversary: Death of August Wilhelm von Hofmann,
  ChemistryViews. 2017.
  Eminent organic chemist and first President of the German Chemical Society
• August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal for Ben Feringa,
  ChemistryViews 2016.
  Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh, German Chemical Society) honors outstanding achievements in chemistry
• August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal 2014,
  ChemistryViews 2014.
  Professor Barry M. Trost, Stanford University, USA, is this year’s laureate
• S. Shaik and M. Quack Receive August Wilhelm von Hofmann Gold Medal,
  ChemistryViews 2012.
  Sason Shaik, Israel, and Martin Quack, Switzerland, are awarded the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Gold Medal of the GDCh