Created: 18 May 2018
Stuttgart, May 2018 – Thieme and the editors of SYNTHESIS, SYNLETT, SYNFACTS, and Science of Synthesis together with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) are delighted to announce that the 2018 Thieme-IUPAC Prize has been awarded to Seth Herzon of Yale University. His research aims for a better understanding of biological processes, including mechanisms involved in cancer. Professor Herzon becomes the 14th recipient of the prize, and joins a distinguished group of scientists under the age of 40 years whose research has had a major impact on the field of synthetic organic chemistry. The prize, which is awarded every two years and includes an award of €5000, will be presented to Seth Herzon on September 19, 2018, at the 22nd IUPAC International Conference on Organic Synthesis in Florence, Italy, after his Thieme-IUPAC lecture.
Herzon's research centers on the synthesis of complex molecules, and applying the skills and knowledge gained in this work to the investigation of complicated biological processes, particularly in the context of understanding potentially unique mechanisms involved in cancer. His laboratory has developed enantioselective synthetic routes to kinamycin F, lomaiviticin aglycon, the hasubanan and acutumine alkaloids, batzelladine B, pleuromutilin, huperzine A, and precolibactins A–C, among others. Inspired by challenges in natural product synthesis, he has also developed new methods for the metal-mediated functionalization of alkenes and alkynes. Professor Herzon is also interested in studies of microbiome-derived natural products and antibiotic development.
Professor Seth Herzon was nominated on the following grounds: “Seth Herzon’s creativity and achievements in the field of target-oriented synthesis alone are exceptional, and his organometallic chemistry program stands to impact not only synthetic methodology, but long-standing fundamental questions pertinent to mechanism. In addition, his investigations into the molecular details and mechanism at the interface between chemistry and biology have led to novel biosynthetic discoveries, with potentially important consequences for molecular medicine.”
Professor Seth Herzon completed his undergraduate studies at Temple University, and then obtained his PhD from Harvard University, where he worked under the guidance of Professor Andrew G. Myers. Following that, he spent two years as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor John F. Hartwig at the University of Illinois. In 2008, he began his independent career at Yale, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012 and Full Professor in 2013. As of 2015 he holds a joint appointment as Professor of Pharmacology at the Yale School of Medicine.