2024 Organic Chemistry mid-career Prize: MSD Prize Winner
Professor Matthew Powner, University College London
Awarded for pioneering work on the prebiotic synthesis of essential biomolecules including amino acids, peptides and co-factors.
Professor Powner’s research is focused on understanding the chemical origins of life. The origins of life are at the very frontier of our understanding of nature, the world we live in, who we are, where we came from, and perhaps whether we alone in the universe. Every aspect of our planet is dominated by life and this phenomenon may be unique in the universe. Understanding life and its origins requires a multidisciplinary approach as it raises so many questions, ranging from planetary contexts to the advent of Darwinian evolution. But at the core of this subject, and every aspect of biology, is organic chemistry. Professor Powner’s team use organic chemistry to discover the chemical reactions that could have first developed into life on our planet four billion years ago.
| Year | Name | Institution | Citation |
| 2023 | Professor Stephen Fletcher FRSC | University of Oxford |
Awarded for the development of asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura-type and other catalytic cross-coupling reactions with racemic starting materials. |
| 2022 | Dr Katherine Wheelhouse FRSC | GlaxoSmithKline |
Awarded for contributions to the application and industrialisation of chemical catalysis in the pharmaceutical industry in the pursuit of more sustainable synthesis of medicines. |
| 2021 | Dr Stephen Thomas | University of Edinburgh |
Awarded for the development and creative applications of novel methods to enable catalysis, using organometallic-free activation of first-row transition metal and main-group pre-catalysts. |
| 2020 | Professor Vy Dong | University of California, Irvine |
Awarded for creative applications of metal hydride catalysis to address diverse challenges in organic synthesis, including carbon-carbon activation and cyclic peptide construction. |
| 2019 |
Professor Nicolai Cramer | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne |
Awarded for the development of chiral cyclopentadienyl ligands and Pd(0)-catalysed asymmetric C(sp3)-H activations |
| 2018 | Professor Frank Glorius | Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster | Awarded for pioneering contributions on the use of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in selective arene hydrogenation. |
| 2017 | Professor Phil Baran | The Scripps Research Institute | Awarded for conceptualization and implementation of the "two phase" synthetic strategy in organic chemistry. |
| 2016 | Professor Neil Garg | University of California, Los Angeles | Awarded for breakthroughs in synthetic methodology and exceptional achievements in natural product synthesis. |
| 2015 | Professor Shuli You | Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry | Awarded for the development of catalytic asymmetric dearomatisation reactions opening elegant access routes to complex molecular architectures. |
| 2014 | Professor Andy Smith | University of St. Andrews | For his outstanding contributions to the creative assembly of enantiopure building blocks by organocatalysis. |
| 2013 |
Professor Christina White | University of Illinois | Distinguished for her pioneering work in the development of novel catalysts and concepts for achieving C-H oxidation reactions. |
| 2012 |
Professor Timothy Jamison | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Award for his creative contributions to reaction development and natural-product synthesis, including pioneering work on cascade cyclizations, nickel-catalyzed carbon-carbon bond-forming processes, and flow chemistry. |
| 2011 |
Jonathan Clayden | University of Manchester | Awarded for his remarkable, recent contributions to organic chemistry in the areas of stereochemistry, conformational control, and organolithium chemistry. |
| 2010 |
F Dean Toste | University of California at Berkeley | Awarded for his pioneering work on the chemistry of gold. |
| 2009 |
David Leigh | University of Edinburgh | Awarded for his contributions to directed and templated reactions in organic supramolecular chemistry and the design and synthesis of molecular motors. |
| 2008 - 2009 | Gerald Pattenden | University of Nottingham | Awarded for his outstanding achievements and leadership in the field of natural product synthesis. |
| 2007 | Professor Andrew B Holmes | University of Melbourne | Distinguished for his notable and wide-ranging contributions to the organic chemistry of natural products and of polymeric and electroactive materials. |
| 2005 | Professor Peter Beak | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Distinguished for his contributions to organolithium chemistry, organic reaction mechanisms and asymmetric synthesis. |
| 2003 | Professor Dudley H Williams | University of Cambridge | Distinguished for his extensive contributions to biological chemistry and in particular his determination of the structure and mode of action of vancomycin and related antibiotics. |
| 2000 | Professor K Barry Sharpless | The Scripps Research Institute | Distinguished for his outstanding contributions to the development of asymmetric oxidation reactions. |
| 1998 | Professor Steve V Ley | University of Cambridge | Distinguished for his impressive contributions to the total synthesis of a wide range of complex natural products. |
| 1996 | J-M P Lehn | ||
| 1994 | K C Nicolaou | ||
| 1992 | S L Schreiber | ||
| 1990 | P Potier | ||
| 1988 | R U Lemieux | ||
| 1986 | Sir Derek Barton |
Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world
This report is the result of an independent review of our recognition programmes. Our aim in commissioning this review was to ensure that our recognition portfolio continues to deliver the maximum impact for chemical scientists, chemistry and society.