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Mark Lautens
O.C. FRSC
Born
Mark Lautens

July 9, 1959 (1959-07-09) (age 65)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Guelph (B.Sc) 1981

University of Wisconsin–Madison (Ph.D.) 1985

Harvard University (Post-Doctoral Research) 1985-1987
OccupationUniversity Professor of Organic Chemistry
Years active1987 - present
Known forChemistry, Catalysis, Science Advocacy
AwardsJ.J. Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award, Killam Fellowship

Mark Lautens, OC, FRSC (born July 9, 1959) is a Canadian organic chemist and is a University Professor at the University of Toronto and current Chair of the Chemistry Department.

He is known for his involvement in the developments of asymmetric ring-opening chemistry, synthetic utility and scope of the Catellani Reaction including the use of ligands to facilitate the reaction,[1][2] carbohalogenation,[3] multi-component multi-catalyst reactions, and domino catalysis. He has supervised over 50 doctoral students and has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.

Education and career

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Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Lautens received a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction from the University of Guelph in 1981 where he worked with Professor Gord Lange. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for his Ph.D. (1981-1985) working with Professor Barry M. Trost with an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship. Following graduation, he was an NSERC PDF[clarification needed] at Harvard University (1985-1987) in the laboratories of Professor David A. Evans. In 1987 he was appointed as an NSERC URF assistant professor at the University of Toronto and was promoted to professor in 1995. Since 2012, he has held the rank of University Professor, awarded to up to 2% of the faculty at the University of Toronto.[4] As of 2023, he took on the role of Chair of the Chemistry Department for a 5-year term.[5]

Science advocacy

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Lautens has made an effort to improve government support for funding science in Canada, and for young researchers in particular, by contributing op-ed pieces to various newspapers including The Toronto Star,[6] The Globe and Mail[7][8][9][10] and The Hill Times.[11] He has also described his personal experiences while presiding at citizenship ceremonies [12] and has also questioned why there are not more scientists running for office.[13][14] As of 2023, he has presided over 100 citizenship ceremonies.[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, Lautens published a piece describing how research funding to science and medicine are crucial for a successful response[16] and supports paying students and post-docs a better wage.[17] He mentions how we have learned a lot about the importance of science, but even more about how science needs to be deployed broadly and with full force if we hope to tackle the most challenging societal problems.[18] He further described how the current situation is shedding light on the "messy and sometimes infuriating process of scientific discovery".[19] He has encouraged compassion and empathy in the time of the pandemic.[20]

Honours and awards

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Lautens was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2001.[4] He is currently the AstraZeneca Professor of Organic Chemistry (1998–present) and was an NSERC/Merck Frosst Industrial Research Chair (2003–2013). In 2009, he was an Alexander von Humboldt awardee. In 2013, he was awarded the Chemical Institute of Canada's CIC Medal.[21] In 2014, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions at the forefront of organic chemistry, which have led to the creation of new medicinal compounds with fewer side effects".[22] He was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the University of Guelph in 2016.[23] In 2017, he was awarded the Henry Marshall Tory Medal from the Royal Society of Canada.[24]

In addition to his awards for his research, he received the J.J. Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award in 2017, which recognizes outstanding performance in the multiple roles associated with doctoral supervision.[25] In 2020, he won the E.W.R. Steacie Award for making a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada, being the second chemistry professor at the University of Toronto to do so.[26] Recently, the American Chemical Society announced that Lautens won the 2021 Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods for his outstanding creative research that involved the discovery and development of novel and useful methods for chemical synthesis.[27] Most recently, he is the recipient of the University of Toronto's 2021 Chair's Teaching Award.[28] Lautens received the E.C. Taylor Senior Award in 2024 from the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry as recognition for outstanding contributions to the field.[29] He is the second Canadian chemist to receive this award.

Other awards

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  • E.W.R. Steacie Fellow (1994)
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2001)
  • A. C. Cope Scholar (2006)
  • Alexander von Humboldt Awardee (2009–2015)
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of UK (2011)
  • Royal Society of Chemistry Pedler Award (2011)[30]
  • Killam Research Fellowship (2013–2015)[31]
  • Officer of the Order of Canada (2014)[32]
  • CIC Catalysis Award (2016)
  • J.J. Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award (2017)[25]
  • Henry Marshall Tory Medal (2017)
  • Senior Fellow of Massey College[33]
  • E.W.R. Steacie Award (2020)[26]
  • University of Guelph Alumni Association Alumni of Honour (2020)
  • Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods (2021)[27]
  • Chair's Teaching Award (2021)[28]
  • E.C Taylor Award (2024)[29]

References

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  1. ^ Ye, Juntao; Shi, Zhihao; Sperger, Theresa; Yasukawa, Yoshifumi; Kingston, Cian; Schoenebeck, Franziska; Lautens, Mark (2017). "Remote C−H alkylation and C−C bond cleavage enabled by an in situ generated palladacycle". Nature Chemistry. 9 (4): 361–368. doi:10.1038/nchem.2631. PMID 28338687. S2CID 195347.
  2. ^ Ye, Juntao; Lautens, Mark (2015). "Palladium-catalysed norbornene-mediated C–H functionalization of arenes". Nature Chemistry. 7 (11): 863–870. Bibcode:2015NatCh...7..863Y. doi:10.1038/nchem.2372. PMID 26492005.
  3. ^ Newman, Stephen G.; Lautens, Mark (2011). "Palladium-Catalyzed Carboiodination of Alkenes: Carbon−Carbon Bond Formation with Retention of Reactive Functionality". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 133 (6): 1778–1780. doi:10.1021/ja110377q. PMID 21265523.
  4. ^ a b "Curriculum Vitae".
  5. ^ "University Professor Mark Lautens appointed as new Chair". www.chemistry.utoronto.ca. 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  6. ^ "Where do the federal parties stand on basic and applied research? | The Star". thestar.com. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  7. ^ "Young scientists face too many funding obstacles".
  8. ^ "The 'science budget' reveals the need for new research strategies".
  9. ^ Lautens, Mark (17 December 2018). "Graduate students are the lifeblood of research. They need more support". The Globe and Mail.
  10. ^ "Opinion: Without foreign exchange students, we lose a vital transfer of knowledge". Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  11. ^ "Canada's research stars should get a shot at same funding as foreign scholars". 2018-09-10.
  12. ^ "What I learn from new Canadians".
  13. ^ Lautens, Mark (4 November 2019). "Why don't more scientists run for office?". The Globe and Mail.
  14. ^ "Opinion | Scientists are missing in politics and this needs to change". thestar.com. 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  15. ^ "Mark Lautens performs 100th Citizenship Ceremony". www.chemistry.utoronto.ca. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  16. ^ "Turning on the 'science tap' to fight COVID-19". Toronto Star. 23 March 2020.
  17. ^ Lautens, Mark (2022-10-21). "Opinion: To support science research in Canada, we must pay grad students and postdocs better". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  18. ^ "Opinion: Canada's approach to scientific research has left us lagging behind when we need it the most". Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  19. ^ Lautens, Mark (May 2020). "The pandemic is shedding light on the messy and sometimes infuriating process of scientific discovery". The Globe and Mail.
  20. ^ "Opinion | It's different when it's your arm". thestar.com. 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  21. ^ "Mark Lautens".
  22. ^ "Governor General Announces 95 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". December 26, 2014.
  23. ^ "Four to Receive Honorary Degrees at Fall 2016 Convocation". 2016-10-06.
  24. ^ "Professor Mark Lautens Awarded Henry Marshall Tory Medal".
  25. ^ a b "Mark Lautens receives JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award". 2017-06-07.
  26. ^ a b "Mark Lautens wins 2020 E.W.R. Steacie Award". 23 January 2020.
  27. ^ a b "ACS 2021 national award winners".
  28. ^ a b "John Ford and Mark Lautens honoured with Outstanding Staff and Outstanding Teaching awards". 31 May 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Lautens Receives E.C. Taylor Award". www.chemistry.utoronto.ca. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  30. ^ "Pedler Award 2011 Winner".
  31. ^ "Better living through chemistry: Mark Lautens".
  32. ^ "Q&A with Mark Lautens, Order of Canada honouree".
  33. ^ "Massey College – Sapere Aude". Retrieved 2019-09-30.
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