Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences

LA JOLLA, CA—Scripps Research chemist Jin-Quan Yu has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

The NAS recently announced the election of 120 U.S. members and 25 international members for their significant and sustained contributions to original research. With this year’s election, the NAS now includes 2,705 active members and 557 international members.

Yu, the Bristol Myers Squibb Endowed Chair in Chemistry and the Frank and Bertha Hupp Professor of Chemistry, is widely known for his innovations in synthetic organic chemistry. His research focuses on carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bond activation, a method that allows chemists to selectively transform C–H bonds, which are among the most common but least reactive chemical bonds in organic molecules.

Because C–H bonds are difficult to target with precision, Yu has developed new catalysts and reaction strategies that help chemists control where these transformations occur. Most notably, he has developed the first generation of chiral catalysts to perform enantioselective C–H activation to create single-handed molecules. These advances have made it easier to construct and modify complex molecules, including those with potential applications in medicine, agriculture and materials science. For example, a recent paper from his lab demonstrated a method that uses a novel catalyst and inexpensive fluoride salts to modify the most common chemical bonds, opening doors to new medicines and improved medical imaging.

Yu has received numerous honors for his scientific contributions, including the Akira Suzuki Award, the Award for Creativity in Molecular Design and Synthesis from the American Chemical Society, a MacArthur Fellowship (also referred to as a “genius grant”), and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.