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Biography |
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Jean-Marie LEHN was born in Rosheim, France in 1939. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Strasbourg in 1960, he earned his Ph.D. in 1963 in the group of Guy Ourisson. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Robert Burns Woodward at Harvard, where he participated in the total synthesis of vitamin B12. On his return to Strasbourg he began to work in areas at the interface between organic and physical chemistry, later taking an interest in biological processes as well.
In 1968, his research led to the synthesis of cage-like molecules containing a cavity into which another chemical species of appropriate size and shape may be included, to form a “cryptate”, like a key fits into a lock. Thus began his work on the chemical basis of "molecular recognition" (i.e. the way in which a receptor molecule recognizes and selectively binds a substrate), which also plays a fundamental role in biological processes. For these studies Lehn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 with D.J. Cram and C.J. Pedersen.
From 1970, Lehn has been Professor of Chemistry at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg and in 1979 he was elected to the chair of Chemistry of Molecular Interactions at the Collège de France in Paris. He retired from the Collège de France in 2010 and is presently Professor Emeritus at the University of Strasbourg and Professor at the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study (USIAS), where he holds the Chair of Chemistry of Complex Systems. He directs the Laboratory of Supramolecular Chemistry at the ISIS (Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires) of the University of Strasbourg.
Over the years his work led to the definition of a new field of chemistry, which he has named "supramolecular chemistry" as it deals with the complex entities formed by the association of two or more chemical species held together by intermolecular forces, whereas molecular chemistry studies the features of the entities constructed from atoms linked by covalent bonds. His research broadened from molecular recognition towards supramolecular catalysis and transport processes. It also extended to the elaboration of functional devices, for supramolecular photonics, electronics and ionics.
Thereafter, the main line of development concerned the chemistry of “self-organization” based on the design of "programmed" systems that undergo spontaneous assembly of suitable components into well-defined functional supramolecular architectures, directed by the supramolecular processing of molecular information. More recently, importing into molecular chemistry, the dynamic features characteristic of supramolecular chemistry, through the introduction of reversible covalent bonds, allowed the implementation of selection in self-organization processes. It led to the definition and development of “constitutional dynamic chemistry”, whose molecular or supramolecular entities are able to undergo reorganization in response to external stimuli. It points to the emergence of an “adaptive chemistry”, that involves dynamic networks linking chemical entities, thus opening towards the chemistry of complex systems.
Author of more than 1000 scientific publications, Lehn is a member of many academies and institutions and has received numerous international honours and awards.
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