Paul N. Rylander Award
2008 Paul N. Rylander Award Winner
Dr. John F. Hartwig
John F. Hartwig received his A.B. from Princeton in 1986 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990. Subsequently, he was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and joined Yale University in 1992 where he was awarded the Irénée P. duPont Professorship in Chemistry in 2004. Dr. Hartwig joined the University of Illinois chemistry faculty in 2006 and currently holds the Kenneth L. Rinehart Jr. Professorship. John Hartwig has received numerous awards including an A.C. Cope Scholar (1998) Award, the Leo Hendrik Baekeland (2003) Award, the Thieme-IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2004), the ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry (2006), and the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award in Organic Synthesis (2007). Dr. Hartwig's group has developed a series of catalytic reactions for organic synthesis, including palladium-catalyzed aminations of haloarenes, palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of carbonyl compounds, hydroaminations of vinylarenes and dienes, iridium-catalyzed enantioselective allylations of amines and alcohols, and the terminal functionalizations of alkanes. In addition, his group has uncovered new elementary organometallic reactions, such as reductive eliminations of amines, ethers and sulfides, insertions of olefins into transition metal amides and alkoxides, and the oxidative addition of ammonia.
2007 Paul N. Rylander Award Winner
Dr. Brian R. James
Brian James has made seminal contributions, over a period of 45 years, to homogeneous catalysis by transition-metal complexes, especially those of platinum metals. His research interests have focused mainly on activation of H2, O2, CO, H2S, H2O, and N2O in their interactions with organic substrates. His classic 1973 text on “Homogeneous Hydrogenation” is still quoted, and he was the first to report on the use of Ru complexes with chiral phosphines and sulfoxides as precursors for catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation. Recent research has centered on imine hydrogenation, development of new bleaching agents for pulp and paper, and medicinal inorganic chemistry utilizing Ru complexes. The research has led to over 400 publications and 6 patents, and has been recognized by over 30 national and international awards, but he considers his major contribution has been a role in the development of the careers of his 54 Ph.D. and 26 M.Sc. students.