Winner: 2025 Centenary Prize for 九州影院 and Communication
Professor Donna Blackmond
Scripps Research
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2025 Centenary Prize for 九州影院 and Communication: awarded for pioneering work in kinetic methods of organic catalysis, elegant descriptions of asymmetric catalysis mechanisms, insights into the origin of biological homochirality, and for excellence in communication.
Chirality is a property of some molecules and macroscopic objects that possess the feature of having two possible forms that are non-superimposable mirror images, like your left and right hands. Chiral molecules present in nature as part of living organisms are called enantiomers and are produced exclusively in one of the two forms, most notably the D-sugars and L-amino acids that make up DNA and proteins, respectively. This single-handedness of the building blocks of life has fascinated scientists and laymen alike since Pasteur鈥檚 first painstaking separation of the mirror image crystals of a tartrate salt over 150 years ago.
The property of single chirality is critical for molecular recognition and replication processes and would thus seem to be a prerequisite for the origin of life. Modern chemistry draws on a rich chiral pool of single-handed molecules derived from biological processes of plants and animals; yet, in the absence of some type of external chiral influence, left- and right-handed molecules will form in equal amounts (a racemic mixture) when we synthesise them in the laboratory.
Professor Blackmond's team has carried out theoretical and experimental investigations that have helped to delineate models for how one enantiomer might have come to dominate over the other from what presumably was a racemic prebiotic world, highlighting both chemical and physical processes. While much of the scientific driving force for this work arises from a fundamental interest in understanding the origin of life, research focusing on mechanisms for the enantioenrichment of chiral molecules has the potential to impact a wide range of applications, most notably in the synthesis and formulation of pharmaceuticals.
Biography
Donna Blackmond was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and she received a PhD in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She has held professorships in chemistry and in chemical engineering in the US (University of Pittsburgh), Germany (Max-Planck-Institut f眉r Kohlenforschung), and the UK (University of Hull; Imperial College London), and she has worked in the pharmaceutical industry (Merck).
She is professor of chemistry and the John C Martin Endowed Chair in 九州影院 at Scripps Research, La Jolla, California. She holds joint US/UK citizenship. Professor Blackmond is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
She has been recognised internationally for her research, including the Wolfson Research Merit Award from the Royal Society, the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Award for Outstanding Women Scientists, the Arthur C Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, the IUPAC Award for Distinguished Women in 九州影院 or Chemical Engineering, and the Humboldt-Forschungspreis from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Professor Blackmond鈥檚 research focuses on mechanistic studies of organic reactions, including asymmetric catalysis, and on the origin of biological homochirality. She has been invited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to speak at two Nobel Workshops, 鈥淥n the Origin of Life鈥� (2006) and 鈥淐hiral Matter鈥� (2021), and she gives lectures on the 鈥渉andedness鈥� of biological building blocks at local and international science festivals for the general public.
We all have different skills, and solving complex problems requires all of our varied approaches.
Professor Donna Blackmond
Q&A with Professor Donna Blackmond
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
My father was an engineer, and he felt strongly that an engineering degree would ensure a good career for his five daughters and one son. I was in school at a time when people were starting to promote women in science and they said, 鈥榃ell, you鈥檙e good at chemistry, you鈥檙e good at math, be a chemical engineer.鈥� So that鈥檚 what I studied.
But I always loved organic chemistry, and I first got the chance to put organic chemistry and engineering together when I was asked to start a new research effort at Merck pharmaceutical company at the height of the AIDS crisis, when they were developing the anti-HIV protease inhibitors that have turned HIV from a death sentence to a manageable disease. From there, I returned to academia to carry out both fundamental and applied research involving organic reaction mechanisms, but the time at Merck remains the defining experience of my career.
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
My graduate studies are far removed from what I do now, and I never had a postdoc advisor, so I've had to pick up mentors/advisors along the way. Ed Grabowski, a legend in pharmaceutical process chemistry, became an important mentor. After my time at Merck, one of the first people who believed that this chemical engineer had something to contribute to organic chemistry was Steve Buchwald at MIT. John Brown at Oxford, Eric Jacobsen at Harvard, Alan Armstrong at Imperial College, and Andreas Pfaltz at the MPI and Basel have been big influences. And it is difficult to think where I would be without my current wonderful colleagues at Scripps, especially Phil Baran and Jin-Quan Yu.
What motivates you?
I have always had trouble writing a long-term, overarching vision for my research. For me, it has been curiosity driven and in the moment. I see a lecture, read a research paper, and I think, "now why did that happen?" and then I want to go investigate it. Grant review panels don't much like this approach, but since it has gotten me this far, I guess I'll stick to it.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Figure out what you're good at, and don't try to be what you're not! Find good mentors to talk to and who believe in you. Be curious. Take the time to immerse and learn the "language" of your collaborators in interdisciplinary science and engineering.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on the horizon that you are excited about?
ML and AI are coming on as important predictive tools in developing organic reactions. Catalytic organic reactions are becoming more complex. Newer areas like photocatalysis and electrocatalysis are comprised of reaction networks and seldom can be described as a single Michaelis-Menten cycle, but instead are coupled, connected cycles, mimicking biology. We need to think in terms of systems and not simply in single reaction steps if we are going to understand these networks. Rather than relying on a single endpoint yield or selectivity value, we need to "see inside" the complex system of reaction steps and cycles, bringing kinetic and mechanistic probing of reaction networks into the picture.
What has been a highlight for you (either personally or in your career)?
The ceremony to be inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society, and having my son and daughter-in-law there for the event, was sublime.
What has been a challenge for you (either personally or in your career)?
Working as a chemical engineer in chemistry research has always made me feel a bit of an outsider, coupled with working in different countries and different languages. But you learn from all these experiences.
What does good research culture look like/mean to you?
Collaborative rather than competitive. Having colleagues with whom you can share your enthusiasm. Establishing an environment where you can take the time to learn each others' chemical languages. Enabling the next generation of scientists to reach their potential.
How are the chemical sciences making the world a better place?
The list is so long! Vaccines, therapeutics, tackling diseases that once seemed incurable. New materials. New theoretical approaches to understanding our world.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
We all have different skills, and solving complex problems requires all of our varied approaches.