University Professor Mark Lautens of the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science has been recognized by the American Chemical Society (ACS) with the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods.
“This award recognizes and celebrates two themes that are central to our research namely, creativity in discovering new chemical processes, and methodology that is applicable to solving long-standing problems in the chemical synthesis of molecules to improve human health,” Lautens says.
Lautens’s research group supports the development of new pharmaceuticals by inventing chemical reactions and strategies that have less impact on the environment. The group's goal is to mimic nature by combining multiple catalysts in a single reaction vessel, so that several chemical reactions occur in a carefully orchestrated sequence, he says.
“As the first Canadian to have been selected, I feel a particular pleasure on behalf of the 400 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientist and undergraduates who have spent time in the group,” Lautens says.
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Lautens is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society (UK). He is the J. Bryan Jones Distinguished Professor and the AstraZeneca Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science.