Faculty

K. Barry Sharpless 
W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry
Professor
Department of Chemistry
TSRI - 1990

Joint Appointments 
The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology

Education 
B.A. Dartmouth College, 1963; Ph.D. Stanford University, 1968; NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, 1968-70; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970-77; Stanford University, 1977-80; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1980-90.

Awards & Activities 
ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, 1983; Dr. Paul Janssen Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis, 1986; AIC Chemical Pioneers Award, 1988; ETH Prelog Medal, 1988; Scheele Medal, 1991; ACS Arthur C. Cope Award, 1992; Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry, 1993; The King Faisal International Prize for Science, 1995; ACS Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry, 1997; Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1985. Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2001; Chirality Medal, Italian Chemical Society, 2001; Rhone Poulenc Medal, Royal Society of Chemistry, United Kingdom, 2001; Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2001; Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Wolf Foundation, Herzlia Bet, Israel, 2001; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with W. Knowles and R. Noyori), 2002. Editorial Boards: Tetrahedron Publications, Catalysis Technology, Enantiomer, Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis, Chirality, Topics in Stereochemistry, Current Opinion in Drug Discovery and Development, Organic Letters, Synlett.

Research Focus 
Designing Man-Made Catalysts

The Sharpless Lab pursues useful new reactivity and general methods for selectively controlling chemical reactions. Though the focus has progressed from regio- to stereo- to asymmetric and, now, to connectivity control, the core chemistry remains unchanged: the oxidation of olefins, that single most versatile, powerful and reliable (KBS argues) chemical transformation. The Sharpless Lab was the first academic chemistry group with robotics, and the lesson from the combinatorial numbers game was the primacy of reliability. "Click" chemistry was the Sharpless Lab's response: a set of powerful, virtually 100% reliable, selective reactions for the rapid synthesis of new compounds via heteroatom links (C-X-C). Click chemistry is integral now to all research within the Sharpless Lab.

Selected References 
V. V. Rostovtsev, L. G. Green, V. V. Fokin and K. B. Sharpless, "A Stepwise Huisgen Cycloaddition Process: Copper(I)-Catalyzed Regioselective "Ligation" of Azides and Terminal Alkynes" Angew. Chem., 41, 2596 (2002).

W. G. Lewis, L. G. Green, F. Grynszpan, Z. Radic, P. R. Carlier, P. Taylor, M. G. Finn and K. B. Sharpless, "Click Chemistry in situ: Aceytlcholinesterase as a Molecular-Scale Reaction Vessel for the Selective Assembly of a Femtomolar Inhibitor from an Array of Building Blocks" Angew. Chem., 41, 1053 (2002).

P. Dupau, R. Epple, A. A. Thomas, V. V. Fokin and K. B. Sharpless "Osmium-Catalyzed Dihydroxylation of Olefins in Acidic Media: Old Process, New Tricks" Adv. Synth. Catal., 344, 421 (2002).

H. C. Kolb, M. G. Finn and K. B. Sharpless "Click Chemistry: Diverse Chemical Function From a Few Good Reactions" Angew. Chem., 40, 2004-2021 (2001).