Editor's Page pubs.acs.org/Organometallics
Award-Winning Organometallic Chemistry: The 2012 “Prix de l’Etat” and “Médaille Berthelot” of the French Academy of Sciences mmediately following this Editor’s Page,1 readers will find an authoritative review on cyclopentadienyl actinide chemistry by Dr. Michel Ephritikhine that is derived from two awards he received from the French Academy of Sciences during 2012. The first is one of the “grand prizes” of the Academy, the “Prix de l’Etat”, which was established in 1795.2 A single Laureate is named annually, but the honor rotates among mathematicians, physicists, biologists, and chemists on a four-year cycle. The second, the Berthelot medal, is presented to the most outstanding chemist among all of the honorees in a given year.3 Other awards from France have been featured in previous issues.4 Dr. Ephritikhine currently holds the position of Directeur de Recherche Emérite at the CNRS and is affiliated with the CEA Centre in Saclay. He has had a long and distinguished career in organometallic chemistry, highlights of which can be found in the biographical sketch in his article. The prize, which consists of 7600€, was presented together with the Berthelot Medal in a ceremony under the famed cupola of the Institut de France5 in Paris on October 16, 2012 (Figure 1). The laudatio, which is a
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Figure 2. Dr. Ephritikhine exploring the roots of much of his chemistry in the uranium-rich sands of the Monument Valley (USA). Photo by Michel Ephritikhine.
for its rich uranium deposits that the indigenous Navajo Indians termed “leetso”, or “yellow earth”.7 Michel, we all greatly admire your diverse life-long contributions to organometallic chemistry and wish you the heartiest congratulations on the occasion of these prestigious and richly deserved awards. We are certain that we will see much more of your outstanding work in these pages in the years to come.
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REFERENCES
(1) Previous Editor’s Page in the series: Gladysz, J. A. Organometallics 2013, 32, 2277. (2) http://www.academie-sciences.fr/activite/prix/laureat_etat.pdf. (3) http://www.academie-sciences.fr/activite/prix/laureat_berthelot. pdf. (4) Gladysz, J. A. Organometallics 2011, 30, 5303. (5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_de_France. (6) “Michel Ephritikhine est distingué pour ses travaux sur la métathèse des oléfines et l’activation des alcanes, la synthèse de complexes de l’uranium présentant une réactivité originale en chimie ̂ organique et en catalyse, sa maitrise de la chimie de l’uranium(III) qui lui permet d’étudier la différenciation des ions lanthanides et actinides trivalents, un problème important aussi bien sur le plan de la recherche fondamentale que sur celui des applications, et pour son exploration du magnétisme moléculaire des composés hétérobimétalliques contenant un ion actinide.” (7) (a) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining_in_Arizona. (b) http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survivalquarterly/united-states/uranium-mining-navajo-indian-land.
Figure 1. Dr. Michel Ephritikhine being presented the “Prix de l’Etat” and “Médaille Berthelot” by Dr. Phillipe Taquet, at that time the VicePrésident of the French Académie des Sciences and currently the Président. Photo by B. Eymann, Académie des Sciences, France.
full paragraph,6 highlights Dr. Ephritikhine’s prolific contributions to lanthanide and actinide chemistry, as well as olefin metathesis, alkane activation, and molecular magnetism. A chemist of Dr. Ephritikhine’s breadth and accomplishments clearly draws inspiration from many sources, and Figure 2 shows him prospecting in Monument Valley (USA), known © 2013 American Chemical Society
John A. Gladysz, Editor in Chief
Published: May 13, 2013 2463
dx.doi.org/10.1021/om4003895 | Organometallics 2013, 32, 2463−2463
