David A. Evans is the Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. He is a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

 and is best known for the development of aldol reaction

Aldol reaction

The aldol reaction is a powerful means of forming carbon–carbon bonds in organic chemistry.Discovered independently by Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and Alexander Porfyrevich Borodin in 1872, the reaction combines two carbonyl compounds to form a new β-hydroxy carbonyl compound...

 methodology (the Evans' acyl oxazolidinone method).

Evans attended Oberlin College

Oberlin College

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...

 (A.B., 1963) and the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

 (Ph.D., 1967).

Notable contributions

Evans has made many scholarly contributions to the field of organic chemistry. Although he is best known for his work on the aldol reaction, he has also developed methodology for anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement

Cope rearrangement

The Cope rearrangement is an extensively studied organic reaction involving the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of 1,5-dienes. It was developed by Arthur C. Cope...

s, metal catalyzed hydroboration

Hydroboration-oxidation reaction

In organic chemistry, the hydroboration–oxidation reaction is a two-step organic reaction that converts an alkene into a neutral alcohol by the net addition of water across the double bond. The hydrogen and hydroxyl group are added in a syn addition leading to cis stereochemistry...

s, and catalytic, enantioselective reactions based on bis-oxazoline

Bisoxazoline ligand

In chemistry, bisoxazoline ligands are chiral ligands based on a bis oxazoline skeleton and used in combination with a metal compound in asymmetric synthesis as a chiral catalyst . Three frequently encountered such ligands are PyBOX, tBuBOX and PhBOX...

 (box) ligand

Ligand

In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding between metal and ligand generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electron pairs. The nature of metal-ligand bonding can range from...

s.

In recognition of his contributions, Evans was elected a Fellow

Fellow of the AAAS

Fellow of the AAAS is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected annually by the AAAS Council for "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications [which] are...

 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...

in 2003.