Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 5
September 2000
Ronald
Breslow Elected to Royal Society
Prof. Ronald Breslow, Chemistry and University Professor at Columbia
University in New York City and Titular Member of IUPACs Organic
and Biomolecular Chemistry Division (III) Committee as well as Member
of the Subcommittee on Bioorganic Chemistry, has been elected as one
of six new foreign members to the United Kingdoms prestigious
Royal Society.
Since its founding in 1660, the Royal
Society has served as an independent academy promoting the natural
and applied sciences. No more than 42 new fellows and 6 foreign members
are elected annually for their contributions to science, both in fundamental
research and through directing scientific and technological progress
in industry and research establishments.
Prof. Breslow has been a leader in the field of bioorganic chemistry
for more than 35 years, starting with his landmark paper that explained
the mechanism of thiamine pyrophosphate as a catalyst, thereby leading
to the concept of stabilized carbenes. He formulated the term "biomimetic
chemistry" and developed many significant examples of reactions
that simulate enzyme catalysis, such as the creation of an artificial
enzyme in which two functional groups act synergistically to perform
phosphate ester hydrolysis with high product selectivity.
Prof. Breslow also pioneered cyclodextrin chemistry, using that molecule
as a cage in which selective chemistry with metals, coenzyme analogs,
and aromatic substitution could be studied. He has also won the National
Medal of Science and the 1999 Priestley Medal of the American Chemical
Society.