Profile of Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless: 2022 Nobel laureates in Chemistry
Name
kiessling-2023-profile-of-carolyn-r-bertozzi-morten-meldal-and-k-barry-sharpless-2022-nobel-laureates-in-chemistry.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
214.91 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c7c307b6f06daac02471434f9754ad4c
Author(s)
Kiessling, Laura L
Date Issued
August 21, 2023
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Citation
L.L. Kiessling, Profile of Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless: 2022 Nobel laureates in Chemistry, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (35) e2308367120.
Abstract
A superpower of chemistry is that it can be harnessed to create functional molecules and materials. The materials in our phones and the drugs used to treat COVID (and everything in between) arise from chemical synthesis. Thus, efficient routes for assembling new molecules enable advances in many fields. The need for reproducible reactions is felt acutely when researchers are trying to make new compounds or make target substances on a large scale. Chemical reactions tend to be sensitive to the functional groups within a molecule, so reactions that work on one substrate may not work on all compounds that researchers test. Indeed, at the beginning of my career, I remember talking with other new faculty members about how great it would be if we had “chemistry kits” to assemble molecules like those used by biologists to run assays rapidly and reproducibly. This year’s chemistry Nobel laureates have shown the power of making chemistry accessible to all. Their clever strategies to “click” together new molecules profoundly impact organic chemistry, materials science, and biology.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2308367120
