BASF presented Professor Nicolai Cramer the BASF Catalysis Award 2013 for his research contributions to catalytic processes in synthesis of biologically active molecules.
Cramer heads the laboratory of asymmetric catalysis and synthesis at the École Polytechnique Fédérale (EPF) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Cramer received the €10,000, prize at the Heidelberg Forum of Molecular Catalysis June 28.
Cramer is working in the field of enantioselective metal-catalyzed transformations and their implementation for the synthesis of complex biologically active molecules. The Cramer lab works on the development of broadly applicable catalytic methods for the selective functionalization of relatively inert C-H and C-C bonds with different transition-metal complexes.
“We are developing precise tools for all fields that produce molecules with high reactivity and selectivity,” Cramer said. “Our methods are suited for a faster synthesis because in medical research it is also essential to produce possible active ingredients rapidly. In this way, we have synthesized and identified molecules that show an anti-HIV effect. In doing this we closely collaborate with the life sciences faculty in Lausanne. But other interesting fields also exist such as material sciences in which we can provide a better approach to molecules that for example are used for organic electronics.”
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