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NEWS OF T ACS M E E T I N G
PRIESTLEY MEDAL GOES TO E. J. COREY Synthetic chemist from Harvard will receive ACS's top award in 2004
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LIAS J. COREY, THE SHEL-
don Emery Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, will receive the 2004 Priestley Medal. The award is the American Chemical Society's highest honor, given each year for distinguished service to chemistry This "recent good fortune," Corey says of his selection last week at the ACS national meeting in New Orleans, is "both unexpected and moving." He says the award reflects well on synthetic chemistry, a "mighty engine for human betterment" that he believes is widely underappreciated. Commenting on the award, Stuart L. Schreiber, chair of Harvard's department of chemistry and chemical biology, says that Corey's teaching, research, and leadership have "advanced our science in ways that cause chemists to be proud of their profession." Corey's achievements are voluminous, but perhaps the first that comes to mind is retrosynthetic analysis, the logical deconstruction of molecules to be synthesized into simpler and simpler precursors until simple or commercially available compounds are obtained. Developed in the 1960s, the method systematized the way chemists designed syntheses. At the time, when syntheses were planned on the basis of trial and error, assumed starting points, or inexplicable insights, the concept was radical. Retrosynthetic analysis "helped to advance total synthesis to unprecedented levels of complexity and efficiency" notes K. C. Nicolaou, a chemistry professor at Scripps Research Institute and at the University of California, San HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
Diego. Coupled with Corey's development of synthetic methods and ingenious strategies, retrosynthetic analysis has led to total synthesis of extraordinarily complex targets of clinical or biological interest and earned Corey the 1990 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Among recent targets of the Corey lab is ecteinascidin 743, a powerful anticancer compound found in minuscule amounts in sea squirts. Synthesis has allowed the compound to advance to latephase clinical trials in Europe and the US. In the late 1960s, Corey targeted prostaglandins, which take part in many physiological processes but occur in the body in very small amounts. The routes developed in the Corey lab en-
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abled fundamental studies of these compounds. "Without Corey modern organic synthesis could not exist," says Ryoji Noyori, Chemistry Nobel Laureate in 2001. Noyori's interest in asymmetric hydrogenation originated from postdoctoral work with Corey on selective hydrogenation of a prostaglandin. Corey 74, received bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1948 and 1951). He joined the chemistry faculty of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1951 and moved to Harvard in 1959. He has received 18 honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the Wolf Prize in Chemistry the National Medal of Science, theJapan Prize in Science, the Roger Adams Award, and the Messel Medal of the UK.'s Society for Chemical Industry. The more than 600 chemists who have been his students or scientific partners "deserve much of the credit," Corey
DISTINGUISHED Corey has transformed total synthesis field.
says.-MAUREEN R0UHI
ACS M E E T I N G
Valerie Kuck Wins First New Service Award he first recipient of the ACS Award for Volunteer Service to the society will be Valerie J. Kuck, for her decades of extraordinary service as an active local section councilor and chair of five national committees. Kuck, retired from Lucent Technologies' Bell Laboratories, is also being recognized for her outstanding work in enhancing members' careers. "It's absolutely overwhelming to be the first person to get this national award," Kuck tells C&EN. "It makes me think of alt the wonderful people I've met through ACS. We've worked hard." Among Kuck's accomplishments is the creation of Sci-Mix, the evening poster session held at every ACS national meeting since a first experimental session in Boston in 1990. "I can't tell you what a thrill it was to walk in and see all these young people have a home for talking science and socializing, instead of sitting in hotel hallways," she says. Kuck also introduced the concept of cutting-edge symposia on hot research topics, with plenary sessions on high-temperature superconductivity in 1987 and cold fusion in 1989. Their spectacular success led to a change in the ACS bylaws to facilitate such late-breaking symposia. Kuck says she is also especially proud of her work with the Committee on Committees, helping it shift direction to become "a real support for the other committees." The award will be presented at the spring ACS national meeting in 2004. Kuck, an ACS member for 39 years, will receive a certificate and $3,000, and her name will be inscribed on a plaque to be displayed at ACS headquarters in Washington, D.C.-PAMELA ZURER
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C & E N / MARCH 3 1 , 2003
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