Barry Sharpless

Sharpless, BARRY (Sharpless, Barry) (p. 1941). Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2001 (jointly with W. Knowles and R. Noiori).
Born in 1941 in Philadelphia (USA) in a family physician. From 6 to 12 years went to the Quaker school. Not going to be a scientist and was interested only in fishing. His parents sent him to the Central School Frends, and in 1959 decided to determine in Dartmouth College.

They wanted him to become a doctor, but Sharpless college chose to engage in organic chemistry. After graduating college in 1963, continued its work during three years' in a research team of young assistant professor, Thomas Spencer, and then perform thesis (1968) at Stanford University under the direction of E. van Tamelo. Ibid held posledissertatsionnaya internship with Professor J. Kollmana, which was continued in 1969 at Harvard University by K. Bloch.

After that he worked from 1970 to 1990 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (where he became a professor), where for 3 years passed in Stanford University (1977-1980). Since 1990, Sharpless - professor at Scripps Research Institute, combines this work since 1996 with professorships at the Institute of Chemical Biology.

Major discoveries that led to the development of methods of chiral oxidation of organic compounds he made in 1980, while working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The term 'chirality' as the asymmetry of the molecule previously entered into a permanent everyday life Nobel Prize winner Vladimir Prelog.

As a result, laboratory or industrial synthesis of molecules nehiralnyh usually a mixture of enantiomers. For one of the enantiomers, ie. for chiral synthesis, chiral effects required. Thus, for the oxidation nehiralnoy molecules in a single enantiomer of a chiral catalyst needed oxidation.

We had to develop a common methodology directed chiral synthesis, first and foremost, it had to be done for the most common organic reactions - reduction and oxidation.

The first chiral catalyst in the reduction reaction - namely, hydrogenation, was developed by American chemist William Knowles in 1968. Japanese chemist R. Noiori developed the ideas of Knowles.

Sharpless has applied similar ideas for oxidation reactions. Oxidation of unsaturated hydrocarbons in glycols occurs under the action of osmium oxide. Applying a set of metal with a natural substance asymmetric structure - quinine, Sharpless undertook the synthesis of chiral enantiomers of chiral glycol.

Chiral catalysis oxidation made available many synthons enantiomers - molecules used in the directed synthesis. On the basis of research Sharpless developed a multi-ton synthesis of a wide series of chiral allyl alcohols - glycidol and metilglitsidola, . that, . in turn, . served as building blocks in the production of b-blockers - drugs, . used in cardiology,
.

These studies led to the awarding of the Nobel Prize Sharpless half of 2001 (second half of the divided W. Knowles and R. Noiori) 'for his work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions'.

The Nobel Prize in 2001 illustrates that the path from basic research to their technical implementation may be extremely short.

Especially prominent role of these discoveries in the industry - in the production of new drugs, pheromones, pesticides, food additives, vitamins, chiral synthons, etc..

Sharpless discoveries led to the search for new schemes of catalytic asymmetric synthesis, the feasible set of research groups around the world. These findings make a significant contribution not only in chemistry, but also in material science, biology and medicine, opening the way for new molecules - carriers are unexplained and unexpected properties of the molecular world.

All free time Sharpless gives fishing, as well as windsurfing and sailing.