Born 1968 (Frankfurt, Germany);
Chemistry Diplom 1993, Free University Berlin; PhD 1997, University Frankfurt (J.
Mulzer); 1997-1998 Postdoc, Scripps
Research Institute, La Jolla, USA; January 1, 1999-2003 Assistant Professor
(Tenure Track),
Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA; 2003-2005 Group Leader at the
Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung and Honorary Professor at the University
of Cologne since 2004. Since July 2005 Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für
Kohlenforschung.
2009 Organic Reactions Lectureship, USA 2009 Boehringer-Ingelheim Lectureship, Canada 2008 Visiting Professor at Sungkyunkwan University, Korea 2007 AstraZeneca Award in Organic Chemistry 2007 OBC-Lecture Award 2007 Award of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (Silver) 2006 100 Masterminds of Tomorrow, Germany 2006 JSPS Fellowship Award, Japan 2005 Novartis Young Investigator Award 2005 AstraZeneca European Lecturer 2005 2005 Visiting Professor at
GakushuinUniversity
,
Tokyo
,
Japan 2005 The Society of Synthetic Chemistry,
Japan
: 2005 Lectureship Award 2004 Lieseberg-Price of the University of Heidelberg 2004 Lecturer’s Award of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie 2004 Degussa Price for Chiral Chemistry 2003 Carl-Duisberg-Memorial Award of the German Chemical Society 2000 Synthesis-Synlett Journal Award 1997 Feodor-Lynen Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 1994 NaFöG-Award from the City of
Berlin
Inventing new strategies for the development of "perfect
chemical reactions" that approach 100% yield, while not requiring toxic
solvents, protecting groups, heating, cooling, or inert gas atmosphere is
the ultimate goal of our research. We approach this goal using selective
catalysis based on small organic molecules. This area has recently become a
goldmine for the discovery of new reactivity.
Remarkably, while Chemists use mostly metal-based catalysts,
half of all enzymes are metal-free. In recent years however, it has been
demonstrated that small organic molecules can be as efficient and selective
as the more commonly used metal-based catalysts. An “explosive” research
activity in this new area of Organocatalysis resulted and we propose that it
will ultimately complement existing strategies for selective catalysis such
as biocatalysis and transition metal catalysis.
We explore small-molecule amines as asymmetric catalysts for
carbonyl transformations. “Asymmetric Aminocatalysis” functions by
activating carbonyl compounds as iminium ions and enamines using a catalytic
amount of an amine. Our strategy complements existing catalytic methods
based on chiral acids and bases that typically involve metals. One of the
oldest and most famous asymmetric aminocatalytic reactions is the
Hajos-Parrish-Eder-Sauer-Wiechert-cyclization, a proline-catalyzed
enantiogroup-differentiating intramolecular aldol reaction that has been
invented at Roche and Schering. On the basis of this reaction and lessons we
learned form studying aldolase enzymes and antibodies we discovered the
first asymmetric proline-catalyzed intermolecular aldol reaction in 2000. In
this direct asymmetric aldol reaction, unmodified carbonyl compounds give
aldols in good yields and up to >99% ee.
Since then, we realized that enamine catalysis has the
potential to be a general strategy for the catalytic utilization of
carbanion equivalents and have discovered several other proline-catalyzed
reactions: The first direct asymmetric Mannich reaction (2000), the first
direct asymmetric intermolecular Michael reaction (2001), a novel
three-component reaction ("carba-acetalization", 2001), the first direct
asymmetric alpha-amination (2002), and the first direct asymmetric enolexo
aldolization (2003). In 2004 we have extended this strategy to the first
catalytic asymmetric aldehyde alpha-alkylation and intramolecular Michael
reactions. A very recent discovery has been the first example of a
completely metal-free, organocatalytic asymmetric transfer hydrogenation.
