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KC Nicolaou
Total Synthesis and Chemical Biology of Natural and Designed Molecules |
| Contact Information |
| Office: PACH 6100A/B |
| Phone: (858) 784-9414 |
| Fax: (858) 822-0386 |
| Email: knicolaou@ucsd.edu |
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| Education and Appointments |
| 1972 |
Ph.D., University College, London
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| 1969 |
B.Sc., Bedford College London
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| Awards and Academic Honors |
| 2008 |
August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann-Denkmünze Award |
| 2007 |
Honorary Fellowship, Indian Academy of Sciences |
| 2007 |
ISHC Senior Award in Heterocyclic Chemistry |
| 2007 |
ACS Western Regional Meeting Award of Excellence |
| 2006 |
ACS (Auburn Section) Auburn G.M. Kosolapoff Award |
| 2006 |
Burkardt-Helferich Prize, Germany |
| 2005 |
ACS Arthur C. Cope Award |
| 2004 |
Aristeio Bodossaki Prize, Bodossaki Foundation, Greece |
| 2004 |
Honorary Fellowship, Chemical Research Society of India, India |
| 2003 |
ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry |
| 2002 |
Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry |
| 2001 |
Ernst Schering Prize, Ernst Schering Research Foundation |
| 2001 |
Nagoya Medal of Organic Chemistry, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan |
| 2001 |
Kitasato Institute Medal, The Kitasato Institute, Minato-ku, Japan |
| 2001 |
Greek American Scientists, Engineers, and High Tech Entrepeneurs Award |
| 2001 |
Foreign Member, Academy of Athens, Greece |
| 2000-2001 |
Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Medal, United Kingdom |
| 2000 |
Max Tishler Prize, Harvard University |
| 2000 |
Paul Karrer Gold Medal, Switzerland |
| 1999 |
Yamada Prize (Japan) |
| 1999 |
first Aspirin Prize for Solidarity through Chemistry (Spain) |
| 1998 |
Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest, American Chemical Society |
| 1996 |
William H. Nichols Medal, New York Section-American Chemical Society |
| 1996 |
Inhoffen Medal of the Gesellschaft fur Biotechnologische Forschung mbH (GBF) |
| 1996 |
Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products, American Chemical Society |
| 1996 |
Linus Pauling Award, Oregon, Portland, Puget Sound Sections-American Chemical Society |
| 1996 |
Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA |
| 1994 |
Dr. Paul Janssen Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis |
| 1993 |
Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, American Chemical Society |
| 1993 |
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 1973-1976 |
Research Associate, Harvard University |
| 1972-1973 |
Research Associate Columbia University |
| Research Interests |
Man's fascination with natural substances goes back to ancient times. With the discovery of salicin from willow tree extracts and the development of aspirin in 1899, the art of exploiting natural products became a molecular science. The discovery of penicillin in 1928 and its subsequent development as an antiinfective agent represents another milestone in the history of natural products, and marked the beginning of a new era in drug discovery, in which bacteria and fungi were added to the plant kingdom as sources for biologically active compounds.
Today, with marine organisms and other living creatures as additional sources of active compounds, the chemistry and biology of natural products represents a major avenue to drug discovery and development. Indeed, a large portion of today's major drugs have their origins in nature. It is, therefore, not surprising that one of the most flourishing and rewarding frontiers in modern science is the study of the chemistry and biology of natural products.
But man's imagination does not stop at the frontiers defined by nature. With the ever-increasing power of organic synthesis, the advent of combinatorial chemistry and the major advances occurring in biology today, the synthetic organic chemist is poised to make important contributions by developing new enabling technologies for biology and medicine.
In our laboratories, the study of the chemistry and biology of natural products and designed molecules encompasses total synthesis, solid phase chemistry, molecular design, combinatorial synthesis and biological investigations. Targets are selected on the basis of novel molecular architecture, important biological activity and interesting mechanism of action. The aim is to optimize the opportunity for discovery and invention and to provide challenging arenas for education and training.
These concepts serve as the foundation for our research programs, which amalgamate natural products chemistry, organic synthesis and chemical biology. Recent examples include the total synthesis of TaxolTM, brevetoxins A and B, epothilones A and B, eleutherobin and sarcodictyins, vancomycin, CP-molecules, sanglifehrin A, everninomicin, a number of bisorbicillinoids, apoptolidin and diazonamide A.
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| Primary Research Area: |
Interdisciplinary Specialties: |
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Organic Chemistry
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Bioorganic
Synthesis
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| Selected Publications |
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Classics in Total Synthesis. With E.J. Sorensen. VCH Publishers, Weinheim, Germany, 1996.
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Art and Science of Total Synthesis at the Dawn of the the Twenty-first Century. With D. Vourloumis, N. Winssinger, and P. S. Baran. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39, 44 (2000).
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The Diels-Alder Reaction in Total Synthesis. With S.A. Snyder, T. Montagnon, and G.E. Vassilikogiannakis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 41, 1668 (2002).
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The CP Molecule Labyrinth: A Paradigm of How Endeavors in Total Synthesis Lead to Discoveries and Inventions in Organic Synthesis. With P.S. Baran, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 41, 2678 (2002).
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Classics in Total Synthesis II. With S.A. Snyder, Wiley-VCH Publishers, Weinheim, Germany, 2003.
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Molecules That Changed The World, K.C. Nicolaou
and T. Montagnon, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2008.
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