Karl Barry Sharpless: Chemistry Simplified
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was established by The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as a new House of Wisdom that will serve to "benefit all peoples of the world." This notion is something that it is shared with the King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) in Science, awarded to scientists "whose research results in significant advances in specific areas that benefit humanity."
Because of these shared values, the University recently hosted three winners of the KFIP Science prize whose work has had a significant impact on their respective fields. This included 1995 KFIP winner and Nobel Laureate Professor Karl Barry Sharpless and his peers Stanford Professor Richard Zare and Harvard Professor George McCleliand Whitesides – co-winners of the 2011 KFIP in Science.
The three enjoyed research presentations from KAUST faculty and discussed what Sharpless characterized as their, "impressive findings." This is the first of two features focusing on KFIP winners Professor Karl Barry Sharpless and Professor Richard Zare, where they discuss their research endeavors and impressions of the University.
Unconstrained creative science
A university where science and creativity can work in unison for the benefit of the world, unbounded by walls or research budget, has long been a hope of Nobel Laureate, Professor Karl Barry Sharpless. So when he had the chance earlier this year to get a first- hand experience of the research ongoing at KAUST, a relatively young scientific institution that embraces this philosophy, he "just had to go".
After spending several days at the University and observing the broad range of research at the institution, Sharpless says he senses a "strong hope for science" at KAUST.
"There is exciting, original work going on at this university because people have a license to work on their ideas without constraints. People who are creative aren't good at reporting on schedule. Schedules can be so very destructive to their creative drives," explains Sharpless.
Sharpless is one of the world's most influential scientific figures and a pioneer of modern chemistry. In a career that has spanned three decades, Sharpless has fashioned a scientific legacy that most can only dream of. Currently he runs the Sharpless Lab at the SCRIPPS Research Institute in La Jolla, California where he is a Professor of Chemistry.
Winning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2001 for his work on stereoselective oxidation reactions, Sharpless is responsible for some of the most significant breakthroughs in modern chemistry.
Before his research, the safety of medicinal molecules was difficult and slow to measure. Sharpless discovered chemical reactions that quicken the process and create more effective molecules. This innovation drove the mass production of antibiotics, medicine, and painkillers during the first half of the 2000s.
KAUST's chance for the world
In its current state, the University reminds Sharpless of his early days at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, when competition for research grants was almost unheard of and medicinal studies weren't pressured by government for results.
In fact, Sharpless, says, "I would have been a loser if I was starting out at MIT today. It's just a totally different world now. Research has become increasingly competitive.
"So, I have always been extremely curious about KAUST and the research that goes on there. I believe there is a lot of potential here. This institution is a huge chance for the world."
The KAUST mantra of "high risk research, for high return" is a philosophy that Sharpless can relate to. He says that "staying safe just doesn't cut it anymore" and that the best scientific innovations come from a calculated roll -of -the -dice. An example of this, he says, is the catalysis-by-design approach adopted by the KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC). He says that the Center Director Professor Jean Marie Basset, and other faculty based there, are "the kind of people this institution needs."
Simple chemical innovation
Sharpless currently focuses on advancing and promoting 'Click Chemistry.'. This is a chemical philosophy where chemistry is adapted to produce greater substances by connecting small modular units, essentially "mimicking nature," as he puts it.
"Click chemistry was an idea I had for about 20 years. Whenever I wrote a research grant for it, it was always rejected. They didn't like it because it was far too simple."
Sharpless essentially hopes to streamline medicinal chemistry by formulating structured approaches to link small chemical elements together from larger, more complex chemical configurations. With click chemistry, drug design could become as straightforward as connecting one chemical element to another.
"Chemistry is an architectural endeavor in which function and form are intimately connected. It is the function of molecules that matters most, and the creation of new function is the goal of all chemical endeavors."
"Essentially," Sharpless says, "it's simple as a click of the fingers."
In addition to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and KFIP award, Sharpless has also been a winner of the Benjamin Franklin Medal (2001), many American Chemical Society Awards, and has received honorary doctorates from several institutions. Previously he has served as a professor at MIT and Stanford University.