Richmond Sarpong

Last updated
Richmond Sarpong
Born (1974-04-23) April 23, 1974 (age 49)
Bechem, Ghana
Alma mater Princeton University Ph.D. (2001)
Macalester College B.A. (1995)
Scientific career
Fields Organic Chemistry, Total Synthesis
Institutions California Institute of Technology
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis A study of enediyne functional analogs : model frameworks based on calicheamicin and esperamicin  (2001)
Doctoral advisor Martin Semmelhack
Other academic advisorsRebecca Hoye, Brian Stoltz
Website sarponggroup.com

Richmond Sarpong (born April 23, 1974, in Bechem, Ghana) [1] is a Ghanaian-American chemist who is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. [2] Sarpong works on natural product total synthesis to better understand biological systems and allow for the development of novel therapeutics. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017, and was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020. [3] [4] [5] He serves on the editorial boards of Organic Syntheses, Accounts of Chemical Research and Synlett . [6]

Contents

Early life

Sarpong was born in Bechem, Ghana on April 23, 1974, and spent his early childhood in Bolgatanga. [7] [8] His mother is a teacher, and his father a medical doctor who also holds a master's degree in public health. [9] [10] It was during his childhood that Sarpong first became interested in chemistry, when he saw how effective the drug ivermectin was in combatting river blindness ( onchocerciasis ). [11] Ivermectin was being distributed in Africa by Merck free of charge, [12] and Sarpong's father worked with the World Health Organization to aid in the distribution of the drug. [11] Sarpong got his hands on his father's copy of the Merck Index, an encyclopedia of chemicals, and spent his free time imagining how chemistry could change people's lives. In 1984, Sarpong's family moved to Livingstone, Zambia and later Lobatse, Botswana in 1986. In Zambia and Botswana, he saw the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa. [13] In Botswana, Sarpong attended the Maru-a-Pula School, where he was introduced to organic chemistry by his teacher Dr. Ramakrishna. [1] [14] Having this additional mentor encouraged Sarpong to pursue a career in chemistry, despite having an offer from a premedical program at a British university. [14]

Education and training

Sarpong moved to the United States in 1991 to study chemistry at Macalester College. At Macalester, he conducted undergraduate research with Prof. Rebecca C. Hoye on the determination of absolute stereochemistry of organic molecules using the Mosher method. [1] Sarpong graduated with his B.A. in chemistry in 1995.

Sarpong then pursued graduate studies with Prof. Martin Semmelhack at Princeton University. In Prof. Semmelhack's laboratory, he worked on organic compounds containing the enediyne functional group that model the activity of the calicheamicin class of antibiotics. [15] [16] Sarpong received his Ph.D. in 2001.

Sarpong moved to the California Institute of Technology where he joined the laboratory of Prof. Brian Stoltz as a UNCF-Pfizer Postdoctoral fellow. At Caltech, he worked alongside then-graduate student Neil Garg to complete the first total synthesis of the phosphate inhibitor dragmacidin D. [17] Sarpong also developed a novel tandem Wolff/Cope rearrangement to synthesize fused ring molecules. [18]

Research and career

In 2004, Sarpong started his independent scientific career at the University of California, Berkeley as an assistant professor. [1] He was promoted to associate professor in 2010 and full Professor in 2014.

The Sarpong group specialize in the synthesis of bioactive organic molecules, with a focus on the natural products of flora and fauna. [3] He has developed new synthesis strategies for alkaloids, a family of natural medicines that includes quinine and morphine. [11] In particular, Sarpong is interested in natural product synthesis for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. [13]

In 2017, Sarpong delivered a talk at TEDx Berkeley entitled The face of disease in Sub-Saharan Africa, in which described the influences on his desire to pursue chemistry growing up in Africa, and also encouraged his audience to reevaluate their perceptions of disease in Africa. [9] [19] Sarpong is committed to improving diversity within the chemistry community, [20] and has supported many scholars in the early stages of their academic careers. [13]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Personal life

Sarpong plays tennis in his free time. [14] While attending Macalester College as an undergraduate, he set the 100-meter dash record. [14]

Sarpong's sister, Martha Sarpong, is a R&D Director and Project Leader at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. [9] [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Evans</span> American organic chemist (1941–2022)

David A. Evans was an American chemist who was the Abbott and James Lawrence professor of chemistry at Harvard University. He was a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry and his research focused on synthetic chemistry and total synthesis, particularly of large biologically active molecules. Among his best-known works is the development of aldol reaction methodology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Bertozzi</span> American chemist (born 1966)

Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi is an American chemist and Nobel laureate, known for her wide-ranging work spanning both chemistry and biology. She coined the term "bioorthogonal chemistry" for chemical reactions compatible with living systems. Her recent efforts include synthesis of chemical tools to study cell surface sugars called glycans and how they affect diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and viral infections like COVID-19. At Stanford University, she holds the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Bertozzi is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and is the former director of the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Robert George Bergman is an American chemist. He is Professor of the Graduate School and Gerald E. K. Branch Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.

Christopher J. Chang is a professor of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Class of 1942 Chair. Chang is also a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, adjunct professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco, and faculty scientist at the chemical sciences division of Lawrence Berkeley Lab. He is the recipient of several awards for his research in bioinorganic chemistry, molecular and chemical biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynemicin A</span> Anti-cancer drug

Dynemicin A is an anti-cancer enediyne drug. It displays properties which illustrate promise for cancer treatments, but still requires further research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Stoltz</span> American organic chemist

Brian M. Stoltz is currently a professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. The primary focus of his research is chemical synthesis with an emphasis on expanding the scope of allylic alkylation for the preparation of complex molecules possessing unique structural, biological, and physical properties. His research involves the total synthesis of natural products such as dragmacidin F and (–)-cyanthiwigin F, and development of synthetic reactions to access quaternary stereocenters. Specifically, he has focused on the allylic alkylation of enolates, developing an enantioselective variant in 2004.

Timothy F. Jamison is a professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Garg</span> American organic chemist

Neil K. Garg is currently a Distinguished professor of chemistry and holds the Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair at the University of California, Los Angeles. Garg's research is focused on the chemical synthesis of organic compounds, with an emphasis on the development of new strategies for the preparation of complex molecules possessing unique structural, biological, and physical properties. His group has made breakthroughs in catalysis, especially strong bond activation of esters and amides using nickel catalysts, and in the understanding and utilization of strained intermediates, such as arynes, cyclic alkynes, and cyclic allenes. His laboratory has completed the total syntheses of many natural products, including welwitindolinones, akuammilines, and tubingensin alkaloids. Garg is a co-Founder of ElectraTect, Inc.,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shishijimicin A</span> Chemical compound

Shishijimicin A is an enediyne antitumor antibiotic isolated from Didemnum proliferum. Isolated in 2003 it is part of the family of 10 member ringed enediyne antitumor antibiotic agents, which includes: namenamicin, esperamicin and, calicheamicin. Due to its high potency from cytotoxicity, Shishjimicin A is currently undergoing testing as a possible Antibody-antibiotic Conjugate (ADCs) cancer treatment. Laboratory tests indicate it to be “more than 1,000 times as toxic to cancer cells as the anticancer drug taxol”, also known as Paclitaxel, a prevalent chemotherapy medication. As such, theoretically, only an administration of a minuscule dose of the molecule would be necessary per each treatment. As shishjimicin A supply is scarce and the full extent of its side effects is not yet established, there is still a need for further biological and clinical studies.

Sarah Elizabeth Reisman is a Chemistry Professor at the California Institute of Technology. She received the (2013) Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award and the (2014) Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Organic Synthesis. Her research focuses on the total synthesis of complex natural products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vy Maria Dong</span> American chemist

Vy Maria Dong is a Vietnamese-American Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Dong works on enantioselective catalysis and natural product synthesis. She received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Merck, Sharp & Dohme Award in 2020, the American Chemical Society's Elias James Corey Award in 2019, and the UCI's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018.

Alison Rae Hardin Narayan is an American chemist and the William R. Roush assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Additionally, she is a research assistant professor at University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute.

F. Dean Toste is the Gerald E. K. Branch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and faculty scientist at the chemical sciences division of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He is a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry and is best known for his contributions to gold chemistry and asymmetric ion-pairing catalysis. Toste was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2020, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.

Empowering Women in Organic Chemistry (EWOC) is a scientific conference designed to bring the research and career interests of women in organic chemistry to the forefront and seeks to empower all marginalized individuals by promoting equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion across all chemistry fields. EWOC is the world's largest gathering of women in organic chemistry, and hosts an annual meeting of women who work or plan to work in the field of Organic Chemistry, broadly defined, from all types of institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Lee Queen</span> American chemist and material scientist

Wendy Lee Queen is an American chemist and material scientist. Her research interest focus on development design and production of hybrid organic/inorganic materials at the intersection of chemistry, chemical engineering and material sciences. As of 2020 she is a tenure-track assistant professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, where she directs the Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials.

T.V. (Babu) RajanBabu is an organic chemist who holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at the Ohio State University. His laboratory traditionally focuses on developing transition metal-catalyzed reactions. RajanBabu is known for helping develop the Nugent-RajanBabu reagent, a chemical reagent used in synthetic organic chemistry as a single electron reductant.

Jin-Quan Yu is a Chinese-born American chemist. He is the Frank and Bertha Hupp Professor of Chemistry at Scripps Research, where he also holds the Bristol Myers Squibb Endowed Chair in Chemistry. He is a 2016 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Yu is a leader in the development of C–H bond activation reactions in organic chemistry, and has reported many C–H activation reactions that could be applicable towards the synthesis of drug molecules and other biologically active compounds. He also co-founded Vividion Therapeutics in 2016 with fellow Scripps chemists Benjamin Cravatt and Phil Baran, and is a member of the scientific advisory board of Chemveda Life Sciences.

Jennifer Schomaker is an American chemist who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research considers the total synthesis of natural and unnatural products. She was selected as an American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awardee in 2021.

Kathlyn Ann Parker is a chemist known for her work on synthesis of compounds, especially organic compounds with biological roles. She is an elected fellow of the American Chemical Society and a recipient of the Garvan–Olin Medal in chemistry.

Hosea Nelson is an American chemist who is a professor at California Institute of Technology. His research investigates the design and total synthesis of complex molecules. He was a finalist for the 2021 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Strategies and Methods for Chemical Synthesis Inspired by Natural Products". Columbia University. 2018-03-29.
  2. ↑ "Richmond Sarpong | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  3. 1 2 3 "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Richmond Sarpong" . Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  4. 1 2 Sanders, Robert (2020-04-23). "Nine faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Berkeley News. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Richmond Sarpong". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  6. ↑ "OrgSyn Board". www.orgsyn.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  7. ↑ "Organic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Richmond Sarpong, University of California, Berkeley | Department of Chemistry". chemistry.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  8. 1 2 "Richmond Sarpong". ChemCatChem. 11 (13): 2942. 2019. doi: 10.1002/cctc.201900804 . ISSN   1867-3899.
  9. 1 2 3 "The face of disease in Sub-Saharan Africa | Richmond Sarpong | TEDxBerkeley | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  10. ↑ "Reactions – Richmond Sarpong : The Sceptical Chymist". blogs.nature.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  11. 1 2 3 Drahl, Carmen. "Why The 2015 Nobel Prize In Medicine Was The Boyhood Inspiration For A Chemist From Africa". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  12. ↑ "Merck Offers Free Distribution of New River Blindness Drug". The New York Times. 1987-10-22. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  13. 1 2 3 "Faculty Mentor Richmond Sarpong Supports His Amgen Scholars". Amgen Scholars. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Drahl, Carmen (March 9, 2015). "Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  15. ↑ Semmelhack, M. F.; Sarpong, R. (2004). "Kinetic analysis of a reactive model enediyne". Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry. 17 (9): 807–813. doi:10.1002/poc.798. ISSN   1099-1395.
  16. ↑ Semmelhack, M.F.; Sarpong, Richmond; Bergman, Jeffrey; Ho, Douglas M. (2002-01-21). "Evaluation of alkene isomerization as a trigger for enediyne activation". Tetrahedron Letters. 43 (4): 541–544. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(01)02139-6. ISSN   0040-4039.
  17. ↑ Garg, Neil K.; Sarpong, Richmond; Stoltz, Brian M. (2002-11-01). "The First Total Synthesis of Dragmacidin D". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 124 (44): 13179–13184. doi:10.1021/ja027822b. ISSN   0002-7863. PMID   12405846.
  18. ↑ Sarpong, Richmond; Su, Julius T.; Stoltz, Brian M. (2003). "The Development of a Facile Tandem Wolff/Cope Rearrangement for the Synthesis of Fused Carbocyclic Skeletons". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 125 (45): 13624–13625. doi:10.1021/ja037587c. ISSN   0002-7863. PMID   14599176.
  19. ↑ "TEDxBerkeley". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  20. ↑ Reisman, Sarah E.; Sarpong, Richmond; Sigman, Matthew S.; Yoon, Tehshik P. (2020-08-21). "Organic Chemistry: A Call to Action for Diversity and Inclusion". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 85 (16): 10287–10292. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.0c01607 . ISSN   0022-3263. PMID   32806096. S2CID   221165007.
  21. ↑ "Richmond Sarpong | ACS Division of Organic Chemistry" . Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  22. ↑ "RSC Synthetic Organic Chemistry Award 2015 Winner". www.rsc.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  23. ↑ "Major Awards & Honors | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  24. ↑ "Richmond Sarpong awarded the A.R. Katritzky Junior Award in Heterocyclic Chemistry | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  25. ↑ "Richmond Sarpong receives the SSOCJ Mukaiyama award | College of Chemistry". chemistry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  26. ↑ "Martha Sarpong '97, PhD" . Retrieved 2021-05-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.