Scott E. Denmark

Scott Eric Denmark
Born	17 June 1953 (1953-06-17) (age 70) Lynbrook, New York
Alma mater	MIT (Undergraduate) ETH Zurich (Graduate)
Known for	Organocatalysis, Enantioselective synthesis, Suzuki reaction, Organometallic chemistry, Organic Reactions
Awards	Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, RSC Pedler Medal, Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Doctoral advisor	Albert Eschenmoser
Website	http://www.scs.illinois.edu/denmark/

Scott E. Denmark is the Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is Editor-in-Chief of the Organic Reactions book series. He was born in Lynbrook, New York on 17 June 1953. He obtained an S. B. degree from M.I.T. in 1975 performing research with both Richard H. Holm (ferredoxin analogs) and Daniel S. Kemp (functionalized cyclophanes). His graduate studies were carried out at the ETH-Zürich under the direction of Professor Albert Eschenmoser culminating in a D. Sc. Tech. degree in 1980 (“On the Stereochemistry of the SN’ Reaction”). That same year he began his independent career as assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was promoted to associate professor in 1986, full professor in 1987 and then in 1991 was named the Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry.

Early Career

While in MIT as an undergraduate, Denmark intended to perform his graduate studies in Harvard University, particularly with Robert Woodward. During a private meeting, Woodward told Denmark that he wasn't always going to be around students while Denmark wanted a more available and hands-on supervisor. Woodward, then offered to "introduce [Denmark] to the 'second best' organic chemist in the world," Albert Eschenmoser at ETH Zurich. While at ETH, Denmark studied the stereochemistry of the SN' reactions and graduated with a D. Sc. Tech degree in 1980. Despite having no publication during graduate studies, he was hired as an assistant professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he has helped establish a world-class chemistry department.

Research

Denmark started his independent research with investigation of Nazarov cyclization reaction and Claisen rearrangement. He successfully elucidated the stereochemical course of the Nazarov cyclization by using a silicon group to direct the final elimination step and prevent racemization of its product. The clever strategy caught the attention of English organic chemist Ian Fleming at University of Cambridge who was the authoritative figure in silicon chemistry. Fleming has mentioned that he wished that he has thought of the Denmark solution.

Denmark has had several major contributions to chemistry. His expansive interest and expertise has lead to thorough investigation of several fields including nitroalkene related cycloaddition reactions, phosphorus-stabilized anions, Aldol chemistry, asymmetric allylmetal chemistry, silicon-based cross-coupling reactions, Phase-transfer catalysis, Water-gas shift reaction, and organocatalysis. Most notably, his mechanistic probe to the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction with arylhalides and arylsilanes prompted replacing the arylsilanes with arylrsilanolates as coupling partners for a fluorine-free modification. The reaction now has been recognized as the Hiyama-Denmark coupling.

Denmark's defining establishment in organic chemistry is his research on asymmetric catalysis with main group elements, also known as Lewis base catalysis, which is a subclass of organocatalysis. He developed the paradigm of Lewis base activation of Lewis acids and successfully applied it to the asymmetric addition of a broad range of nucleophiles to sily ketene acetals, iodo- and bromo-functionalization of alkenes, and enantioselective thio- and seleno-functionalization of alkenes. His work has yielded several highly effective Lewis base catalysts that are chiral phosphoramide derivatives. Unlike other organocatalysts, the Lewis base catalysts operate without the assist of h-bonding, therefore avoiding drawbacks and have a broad substrate scope.

Another achievement of Denmark's research was the observation and characterization of the pre-transmetalation species of the boron-palladium adduct in Suzuki reaction using rapid-injection NMR techniques, solving an important mechanistic problem that has been debated over several decades. His house-made rapid-injection NMR instrument is one of the few existing in the world.

As a prolific author and editor, Denmark has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and 27 book chapters and edited several book volumes including: Topics in Stereochemistry, Organic Reactions, and Lewis Base Catalysis in Organic Synthesis. He has been an editor of Organic Synthesis since 1994 and the editor-in-chief and president since 2008. In addition, he has been on the editorial advisory board of many ACS and RSC journals including Accounts of Chemical Research, Chemical Reviews, Journal of Organic Chemistry, etc.

Current Interests

Besides continued interests in Lewis base catalysis, particularly in its application in total synthesis in natural products and drug molecules using the established methodologies, application of rapid-injection NMR techniques to probe reaction mechanisms, and the water-gas shift reaction, Denmark also has research interests in computational chemistry and chemoinformatics, organizinc chemistry, and catalysis with nanoparticles. He also has collaborative projects with several pharmaceutical companies.

Teaching and Training

Among students and co-workers (particularly those not in his group), Scott Denmark has a reputation of being tough, demanding and uncompromising, likely developed at early stage of his career. He admitted in his teaching philosophy:

"I have long felt that the primary functions of academic research are the creation of new science and training of new scientists in equal measure. As a neophyte assistant professor, I was single-mindedly focused on the former, but with the maturation of my first classes of graduate students I realized, quite unexpectedly, the importance and joys of the latter."

He does, on the other hand, strive to have an open and interactive relationship with his students and post-docs. He makes himself available for impromptu discussions. He has weekly group meetings that focus on literature topics, subgroup meetings on research, and monthly individual meetings with each group member regarding projects and professional developments. In his words:

"Students also receive extensive input from me on developing good writing and speaking skills. I edit all required research documents and give students the responsibility of providing the first drafts of manuscripts. Often, I will collaborate with students on writing reviews on the general areas of their research topics. I also work closely with all students in their departmental seminars, in-house presentations, and also talks given at meetings elsewhere."

Unlike many prominent primary investigators in R01 institutions, Scott Denmark maintains a very low post-doc to graduate student ratio. Graduate students are more likely to receive training directly from him, as opposed to post-doc coworkers.

Personal Life

An avid motorsports fan, he owns a custom-built Porsche 951 RS Turbo and four motorcycles. He has held racing license since 2003 and have been racing 4 times a year to maintain the license.