Sharpless Named Cotton Medalist

K. Barry Sharpless, W. M. Keck Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif., is the recipient of the 2014 F. A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research, sponsored by the ACS Texas A&M University Section and Texas A&M University’s department of chemistry. Sharpless was chosen for his renowned work on stereoselective reactions.

The Cotton Medal consists of a gold medal and a bronze replica and is named for the late F. Albert Cotton, who was the W. T. Doherty-Welch Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M. Given annually since 1995, the award recognizes excellence in chemical research.

Sharpless’s research interests include modular click chemistry; in situ click assembly in biological hosts; homogeneous osmium, ruthenium, and rhodium oxidation catalysts; and transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric processes. He was the first to develop a general and reliable enantioselective alkene dihydroxylation, referred to as the Sharpless asymmetric dihdroxylation.

He will be honored during an event at Texas A&M on April 25. For more information, e-mail jzercher@chem.tamu.edu.