Eric Jacobsen
Encyclopedia
Eric N. Jacobsen is the Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry
in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University
. He is a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry
and is best known for the development of the Jacobsen epoxidation
.
Jacobsen attended New York University
for his undergraduate studies and the University of California at Berkeley for graduate school, earning his Ph.D. in 1986 under the tutelage of Robert G. Bergman. He subsequently joined the laboratory of Barry Sharpless, then of MIT, as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He was a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
before relocating to Harvard in 1993.
His work includes investigations on selective catalysis, including the design, discovery, and study of systems that mediate fundamentally interesting and useful organic reactions. His laboratory has applied physical-organic chemistry principles to understand the transition structure geometries and molecular recognition events that control reaction selectivity. Asymmetric catalysis, selective carbon-carbon bond formation and cleavage, enzymatic oxidation, enzyme mimetics, and new approaches to catalyst design are all areas of his interest. He has developed enantioselective small-molecule catalysts whose usefulness is demonstrated by aiding the synthesis of biologically important active compounds.
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 the Jacobsen epoxidation
Jacobsen epoxidation
The Jacobsen Epoxidation, sometimes also referred to as Jacobsen-Katsuki Epoxidation is a chemical reaction which allows enantioselective epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkyl- and aryl- substituted olefins. It is complementary to the Sharpless epoxidation...
.
Jacobsen attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
for his undergraduate studies and the University of California at Berkeley for graduate school, earning his Ph.D. in 1986 under the tutelage of Robert G. Bergman. He subsequently joined the laboratory of Barry Sharpless, then of MIT, as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He was a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
before relocating to Harvard in 1993.
His work includes investigations on selective catalysis, including the design, discovery, and study of systems that mediate fundamentally interesting and useful organic reactions. His laboratory has applied physical-organic chemistry principles to understand the transition structure geometries and molecular recognition events that control reaction selectivity. Asymmetric catalysis, selective carbon-carbon bond formation and cleavage, enzymatic oxidation, enzyme mimetics, and new approaches to catalyst design are all areas of his interest. He has developed enantioselective small-molecule catalysts whose usefulness is demonstrated by aiding the synthesis of biologically important active compounds.
Notable contributions
Jacobsen has developed catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation, hydrolytic kinetic resolution and desymmetrization of epoxides, asymmetric pericyclic reactions, and asymmetric additions to imines.Awards
- Myron L. BenderMyron L. BenderMyron Lee Bender was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He obtained his B.S. and his Ph.D. from Purdue University. The latter was under the direction of Henry B. Hass. After postdoctoral research under Paul D. Barlett , and Frank H. Westheimer , he spent one year as a faculty member at the...
and Muriel S. Bender Summer Lectureship, Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
(1994)