Prof. Ben Feringa wins the 2016 Tetrahedron Prize

The Board of Executive Editors of Elsevier ’s Tetrahedron journal series have announced that the 2016 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry has been awarded to Professor Ben L. Feringa of the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen. He receives the award for his outstanding contributions to organic chemistry. Former winners of the prestigious prize are from Cambridge University, Stanford University and the Max-Planck-Institut.

Professor Stephen Martin, Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Tetrahedron journals, said on announcing this year’s winner: “ Professor Feringa has performed truly ground-breaking research in the diverse fields of dynamic molecular systems, catalysis, and stereochemistry. His contributions to molecular nanotechnology, including molecular switches and rotors, have played a major role in shaping the field of nanomachines. Similarly, his discoveries in catalysis, particularly of enantioselective transformations, have had a profound influence in synthetic organic chemistry and its applications to natural product chemistry."

“Winning the Tetrahedron Prize is not only a great honor for me personally, but also for my team of excellent young students and coworkers whom I have worked alongside over the years and are responsible for many discoveries in our labs,” Professor Feringa commented “This is a very prestigious prize and I am extremely grateful to the giants in our field who have acted as a source of inspiration throughout my career and whose shoulders I stand on to continue the tradition of excellence in organic chemistry.”

In a recent interview, Professor Feringa speaks about winning the award and provides some personal and scientific insights about some of his contributions to organic chemistry .

The Tetrahedron Prize was established in 1980 and is intended to honor the memory of the founding co-Chairmen of the Tetrahedron publications, Professor Sir Robert Robinson and Professor Robert Burns Woodward. It is awarded annually and consists of a gold medal, a certificate, and a monetary amount of $10,000, which will be presented during the 2017 Fall National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC, USA (August 20-24, 2017).

Read more about the Tetrahedron Prize