K. Barry Sharpless - New Developments in Click Chemistry

The Eugene P. Wigner Distinguished Lecture Series in Science, Technology and Policy resumed with Nobel Laureate K. Barry Sharpless' lecture, titled "New Developments in Click Chemistry," which described a new, third "perfect" click reaction that converts any primary amine or aniline to an energy-rich azide. Sharpless is the W.M. Keck Professor of Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in LaJolla, Calif. He shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2001 for his work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions. Numerous other awards include membership in the National Academy of Sciences and, most recently, the 2019 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society for "the invention of catalytic, asymmetric oxidation methods, the concept of click chemistry and development of the copper-catalyzed version of the azide-acetylene cycloaddition reaction." Following his share of the Nobel Prize, Sharpless pioneered the concept of "click" chemistry -- rapid, irreversible reactions that "click" two molecules together -- that has since had countless applications in organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and materials science.