Scott E. Denmark
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Primary Section: 14, Chemistry Membership Type:
Member
(elected 2018)
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Biosketch
Scott E. Denmark was born in New York on 17 June 1953. He obtained an SB degree from MIT in 1975 and DSc Tech degree from the ETH-Zürich under the direction of Professor Albert Eschenmoser in 1980. That same year he was appointed as assistant professor at the University of Illinois. He was promoted to associate professor in 1986, full professor in 1987 and then in 1991 named the Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry.
Professor Denmark is primarily interested in the invention of new synthetic reactions and the origin of stereocontrol in fundamental carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. The current emphasis in his laboratories centers on the relationship between structure, reactivity and stereoselectivity in a variety of organo-element systems and the concept of Lewis base activation of Lewis acids. The development and application of tandem heterodiene cycloadditions for the synthesis of complex natural (and unnatural nitrogen containing compounds is a long-standing interest.
Professor Denmark has won a number of honors including the Eli Lilly Fellowship, A. P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, Procter and Gamble University Exploratory Research Program Award, Stuart Pharmaceuticals Award, A. C. Cope Scholar Award, Alexander Von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award, Pedler Medal (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003), the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2003) the Yamada-Koga Prize (2006) and the Prelog Medal (2007). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Denmark is currently on the Board of Editors of Organic Syntheses and has served on many editorial advisory boards. He was an Associate Editor of Organic Letters and the Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis. He is Co-Editor of Topics in Stereochemistry and in 2007 he became Editor in Chief and President of Organic Reactions.
Research Interests
Professor Denmark is primarily interested in the invention of new synthetic reactions and the origin of stereocontrol in fundamental carbon-carbon bond forming reactions. The current emphasis in his laboratories centers on the relationship between structure, reactivity and stereoselectivity in a variety of organo-element systems such as: palladium-catalyzed, cross-coupling reactions with organofunctional silicon compounds, asymmetric catalysis of carbonyl addition reactions, and applying the reducing power of the Water-Gas Shift Reaction to organic synthesis. Prof. Denmark pioneered the concept of chiral Lewis base activation of Lewis acids for catalysis of reactions in the Main Group for elements in Groups 14, 16, and 17. In addition, his research program encompasses the development and application of tandem nitroalkene cycloadditions for the synthesis of complex natural (alkaloids) and unnatural (fenestranes) nitrogen containing compounds. In recent years, his attention has been focused on the amalgamation of diversity-oriented synthesis with chemoinformatic analysis for the identification and optimization of catalysts for enantioselective reactions using organic and organometallic compounds. He maintains a long-standing interest in the structural chemistry and reactivity of organolithium, -phosphorus and –zinc compounds.
