Professor Hermen Overkleeft, Leiden University, the Netherlands, has been elected the recipient of a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants about 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research to date and their exceptional promise for the future. In addition, the awardee is invited to carry out research projects of his own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany.
Hermen Overkleeft studied chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1997, he accepted a postdoctoral position in the group of Professor Jacques Van Boom, Leiden University, the Netherlands. In 1999, he went to Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Professor Hidde Ploegh. In 2001, he was appointed as full professor of Bioorganic Synthesis at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry, where he became the successor of Professor Van Boom.
He has been a member of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry International Advisory Board since 2009.
His research interests include the development of chemical biology strategies to study enzymes in their physiologically relevant environment, with a focus on the glucosylceramide metabolising enzymes, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, lysosomal proteases, kinases, and matrix metalloproteases.
- Synthesis of Eight 1-Deoxynojirimycin Isomers from a Single Chiral Cyanohydrin,
A. M. C. H. van den Nieuwendijk, R. J. B. H. N. van den Berg, M. Ruben, M. D. Witte, J. Brussee, R. G. Boot, G. A. van der Marel, J. M. F. G. Aerts, H. S. Overkleeft,
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2012.
DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.201200377 - Triple Bioorthogonal Ligation Strategy for Simultaneous Labeling of Multiple Enzymatic Activities,
L. I. Willems, N. Li, B. I. Florea, M. Ruben, G. A. van der Marel, H. S. Overkleeft,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(18), 4431–4434.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201200923 - Automated Solid-Phase Synthesis of β-Mannuronic Acid Alginates,
M. T. C. Walvoort, H. van den Elst, O. J. Plante, L. Kröck, P. H. Seeberger, H. S. Overkleeft, G. A. van der Marel, J. D. C. Codée,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(18), 4393–4396.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201108744
Also of interest:
- Bulletin: New Route to Potential Glycosidase Inhibitors
Efficient preparation of 8 of the 16 isomers of inhibitor candidate deoxynojirimycin could help find new diabetes treatments
