Photo: North Lanarkshire Council — Wikimedia Commons · OGL 3
David W. C. MacMillan
born 1968 · United Kingdom, United States · Born 1940 or later
Nobel Chemistry 2021
Scottish-American chemist who co-founded organocatalysis, using small chiral organic molecules instead of metals or enzymes to drive asymmetric reactions.
Nobel-winning work
Shared with Benjamin List for developing asymmetric organocatalysis. In 2000 his team showed that chiral imidazolidinones catalyse Diels–Alder and aldol-type reactions via iminium-ion activation, coining 'organocatalysis'. The cheap, robust, metal-free catalysts reshaped drug manufacturing and inspired photoredox catalysis.
Fields
Related topics
Protecting groups, asymmetric synthesis
Protecting groups manage chemoselectivity by temporarily masking reactive functions, while asymmetric methods control the formation of stereogenic centres.
Asymmetric organocatalysis
How small, metal-free organic molecules catalyze selective reactions, especially through covalent iminium/enamine intermediates or noncovalent hydrogen bonding.