K. C. Nicolaou

K. C. Nicolaou

Born July 5, 1946
Karavas, Cyprus
Residence United States
Fields Chemist
Institutions

University of Pennsylvania
University of California, San Diego

Scripps Research Institute
ICES-A*STAR, Singapore
Alma mater University of London
Known for Total synthesis
Total synthesis of Taxol

Kyriacos Costa Nicolaou (Greek: Κυριάκος Κ. Νικολάου) is a Cypriot-American chemist known for the total synthesis of natural products.

Contents

Biography

K. C. Nicolaou was born on July 5, 1946, in Karavas, Cyprus where he grew up and went to school until the age of 18. In 1964, he went to England where he spent two years learning English and preparing to enter University. He studied chemistry at the University of London. (B.Sc., 1969, Bedford College; Ph.D. 1972, University College London, with Professors F. Sondheimer and P. J. Garratt). In 1972, he moved to the United States and, after postdoctoral appointments at Columbia University (1972-1973, Professor T. J. Katz) and Harvard University (1973-1976, Professor E. J. Corey), he joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania where he became the Rhodes-Thompson Professor of Chemistry. While at Penn, he won the prestigious Sloan Fellowship.

In 1989, he started at the University of California, San Diego, where he is Professor of Chemistry, and The Scripps Research Institute where he is the Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry, and Chairman of the Department of Chemistry. In 1996, he was appointed Aline W. and L.S. Skaggs Professor of Chemical Biology in The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute. Since 2005, he has been directing Chemical Synthesis Laboratory @ ICES-A*STAR, Singapore.

Nicolaou is active in the field of organic chemistry with research interests natural product synthesis and total synthesis. He is responsible for the synthesis of many complex molecules found in nature such as Taxol in the Taxol total synthesis and vancomycin.

Total syntheses accomplished

Books

He is also the co-author of three popular books on total synthesis:

  1. Classics in Total Synthesis I, 1996[1]
  2. Classics in Total Synthesis II, 2003[2]
  3. Classics in Total Synthesis III, 2011[3]

Additionally, he authored or co-authored several other books:

  1. Molecules That Changed the World, 2008
  2. Handbook of Combinatorial Chemistry: Drugs, Catalysts, Materials, 2002
  3. Selenium in Natural Products Synthesis, 1984

Awards

K. C. Nicolaou has received numerous awards and honors including:

References

  1. ^ Nicolaou, Kyriacos Costa; E. J. Sorensen (1996). Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-29231-4. 
  2. ^ Nicolaou, Kyriacos Costa; S. A. Snyder (2003). Classics in Total Synthesis II: More Targets, Strategies, Methods. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-30684-6. 
  3. ^ Nicolaou, Kyriacos Costa; J.S. Chen (2011). Classics in Total Synthesis III: Further Targets, Strategies, Methods. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-32957-9. 
  4. ^ "Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry". Franklin Institute. 2011. http://www.fi.edu/franklinawards/11/bf_chemistry.html. Retrieved December 23, 2011 (2011-12-23). 

External links