Amos Smith Wins Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry

Amos B. Smith, William Warren Rhodes–Robert J. Thompson Professor of Chemistry, has been awarded the 2015 Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry by the Royal Society for Chemistry. The prize is given for sustained originality and achievement in research in any area of organic chemistry, and recognizes Smith’s continued outstanding contributions to new organic reaction development, complex natural product total synthesis, and new small molecules for medicinal chemistry.

Smith’s research encompasses three diverse areas: development of innovative synthetic methods with wide application, demonstration of the utility of these synthetic tactics for the rapid construction of complex natural and unnatural products with significant bio-regulatory properties, and novel bio-organic/medicinal chemistry programs. In each area, he and his collaborators exploit the power of organic synthesis to improve human health.

To date, more than 90 architecturally complex natural products have been prepared in the Smith laboratory. Completed and ongoing collaborations have contributed to the development of small-molecule probes for neurodegenerative diseases, bioavailable HIV-1 protease inhibitors, and small molecule inhibitors of the HIV cell entry process. 

Smith is the recipient of dozens of awards, most recently the Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award sponsored by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He was founding editor-in-chief of Organic Letters and has been on the editorial boards of many other journals. To date Smith’s research has been reported in more than 500 peer-reviewed publications.

With more than 51,000 members and an international publishing and knowledge business, the Royal Society for Chemistry is the United Kingdom’s professional body for chemical scientists, supporting and representing its members and bringing together chemical scientists from all over the world.