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Scripps Research Joint Appointments

The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology
Faculty, Kellogg School of Science and Technology

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.

Education

B.A., Chemistry, Dartmouth College, 1963
Ph.D., Chemistry, Stanford University, 1968

Awards & Professional 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.

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).

Links

K. Barry Sharpless Steps into the Spotlight

K. Barry Sharpless is Awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology

The Skaggs Institute Scientific Report

Tricking Diseases into Synthesizing Their Own Worst Enemies: A Revolutionary Strategy for Drug Discovery at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) Succeeds on an Enzyme

Sharpless Addresses National Science Teachers Convention