Celebrating RACI and Academy of Science Awards
Curt WentrupSchool of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia. Email: wentrup@uq.edu.au
Curt Wentrup was educated at the University of Copenhagen (Cand. Scient. 1966; D.Sc. 1976) and the Australian National University (Ph.D. 1969). After post-doctoral periods with Hans Dahn (Lausanne), W. M. Jones (Gainesville, FL) and Maitland Jones, Jr (Princeton), he held an assistant professorship at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, and a professorship at the Universität Marburg, Germany, before returning to Australia in 1985 as Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry and head of the organic chemistry section at the University of Queensland, where he is now Emeritus Professor. He has published about 400 research papers, reviews, and books on reactive intermediates and unusual molecules using photochemistry, flash vacuum thermolysis, and microwave-induced reactions, particularly of nitrenes, carbenes, nitrile ylides and nitrile imines, cyanates, isocyanates and nitrile oxides and their thio analogues, and the chemistry of cumulenes. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and a recipient of the Centenary Medal of the Australian Commonwealth for research in organic and physical chemistry, the David Craig Medal of the Academy of Science for research in chemistry, the Arthur Birch Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for excellence in organic chemistry, and an honorary doctorate from the Université de Pau, France. He collaborates strongly with groups in Europe, Japan, and China and has recently held visiting professorships in Pau (France) and Hiroshima (Japan). |
Australian Journal of Chemistry 69(12) 1321-1322 https://doi.org/10.1071/CHv69n12_FO
Published: 8 December 2016
In 2013, a tradition began of inviting the winners of RACI awards, prizes, and medals to contribute papers on their work to a special issue of the Australian Journal of Chemistry. This is now a yearly recurring event, and this year we have also included chemistry-related prizes and medals awarded by the Australian Academy of Science. Thus, a total of 11 award papers are published in this issue of the Journal.
Joe Shapter (Flinders University) was the chief organiser of the very successful and smoothly run RACI Congress in Adelaide in 2014, which earned him a 2015 RACI Citation. He has contributed a research paper with co-workers Z. Alhalili, D. Figueroa, M. R. Johnston, and B. Sanderson: ‘Effect of Modification Protocols on the Effectiveness of Gold Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Vehicles for Killing of Breast Cancer Cells’.[1]
Ian Rae (University of Melbourne), winner of the 2015 Leighton Memorial Medal, has written a review on his involvement with the Montreal protocol, entitled ‘Substance Abuse: Carbon Tetrachloride and the Ozone Layer’.[2]
David Jeffery (University of Adelaide), winner of the Analytical Chemistry Division’s Peter Alexander Medal for 2015, has contributed an account on the complex chemistry of wine aromas, entitled ‘Spotlight on Varietal Thiols and Precursors in Grapes and Wines’.[3]
Anthony Weiss (University of Sydney) was the winner of the Applied Research Award for 2015. He has contributed a review on ‘Perspectives on the Molecular and Biological Implications of Tropoelastin in Human Tissue Elasticity’.[4]
Colin Jackson (ANU), winner of the Organic Division’s 2015 Rennie Memorial Award, has presented a review with co-authors E. Sugrue, C. Hartley, and C. Scott on ‘The Evolution of New Catalytic Mechanisms for Xenobiotic Hydrolysis in Bacterial Metalloenzymes’.[5]
Lara Malins, formerly a Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney under Professor Richard Payne and now a post-doc at UC San Diego, won the RACI’s 2015 Cornforth Award for the best Ph.D. thesis and has contributed a highlight on ‘Transition-Metal Promoted Arylation: An Emerging Strategy for Protein Bioconjugation’.[6]
Christopher Gordon Newton, the Organic Division’s inaugural 2015 Mander awardee for the Best PhD Thesis in Organic Chemistry, then a student in Professor Michael Sherburn’s group and now a post-doc at the EPF Lausanne, has contributed a review together with E. G. Mackay on ‘Masked Ketenes as Dienophiles in the Diels–Alder Reaction’.[7]
Jonathan George (University of Adelaide) was awarded the Organic Division’s Beckwith Lectureship for 2015 and has contributed a research communication with co-workers K. K. W. Kuan, and A. M. C. Hirschvogel entitled ‘A Biomimetic Synthetic Approach to the Frondosins’.[8]
Chengzhong (Michael) Yu (University of Queensland) won the 2015 Le Fèvre Memorial Prize (issued by the Academy and presented by the RACI). He has contributed a research paper with co-workers C. Lei, L. Zhou, C. Xu, X. Sun, and A. Nouwens on ‘Binder-free TiO2 Monolith Packed Pipette-Tips for the Enrichment of Phosphorylated Peptides’.[9]
Denis Evans (ANU) is the 2015 winner of the David Craig Medal of the Academy of Science and has presented a research paper with co-workers Stephen Williams and Debra Bernhardt on ‘A Derivation of the Gibbs Equation and the Determination of Change in Gibbs Entropy from Calorimetry’.[10]
Jeffrey Reimers (UTS and Shanghai University) is the 2016 winner of the David Craig Medal of the Academy of Science and has presented an account entitled ‘Putting David Craig’s Legacy to Work in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology’.[11]
The excellence of these articles reflects not only the calibre of the authors, but also the international standard quality of their research. We trust that you will enjoy reading these articles as much as we have in compiling this collection.
References
[1] Z. Alhalili, D. Figueroa, M. R. Johnston, J. Shapter, B. Sanderson, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1402.| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[2] I. D. Rae, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1375.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[3] D. W. Jeffery, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1323.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[4] A. S. Weiss, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1380.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[5] E. Sugrue, C. J. Hartley, C. Scott, C. J. Jackson, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1383.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[6] L. R. Malins, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1360.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[7] E. G. Mackay, C. G. Newton, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1365.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[8] K. K. W. Kuan, A. M. C. Hirschvogel, J. H. George, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1420.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[9] C. Lei, L. Zhou, C. Xu, X. Sun, A. Nouwens, C. Yu, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1396.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[10] D. J. Evans, D. J. Searles, S. R. Williams, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1413.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
[11] J. R. Reimers, Aust. J. Chem. 2016, 69, 1331.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
