Steven Victor Ley

was born on December 10, 1945 in Stamford (Lincolnshire, UK) and studied chemistry at Loughborough University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1972 working with H. Heaney. He then carried out postdoctoral work in the U.S. with L. Paquette at Ohio State University and returned to the UK in 1974 to continue postdoctoral studies with Sir D. H. R. Barton at Imperial College, London. He became Lecturer at Imperial College in 1975 and was appointed professor in 1983 and Head of Department in 1989. In 1990 he was elected to the Royal Society and moved to Cambridge in 1992, where he is currently BP (1702) Professor of Organic Chemistry and Fellow of Trinity College.

His work has been recognized by many awards, including the Corday Morgan Medal and Prize (1980), the Pfizer Academic Award (1983), the Tilden Medal (1988), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Synthesis Award (1989), the Pedler Medal (1992), the Simonsen Medal (1993), the Adolf Windaus Medal of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and Göttingen University (1994), the RSC Natural Products Award (1993), the Flintoff Medal (1995), the Paul Janssen Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis (1996), the Rhône-Poulenc Lectureship and Medal of the RSC (1998), and the Glaxo-Wellcome Award for Outstanding Achievement in Organic Chemistry (1999). Recently he was awarded the RSC Haworth Memorial Lectureship, Medal, and Prize, The Royal Society Davy Medal, and the GDCh August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal together with the Pfizer Award for Innovative Science (all 2001). Recently he received the Ernest Guenther Award from the American Chemical Society (2003). He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002. Ley sits on many national and international boards. He is presently the Chairman of the Novartis Foundation Executive Committee and was President of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) from 2000 to 2002.

Scientific Sketch

Steven Ley’s work involves the discovery and development of new synthetic methods and their application to biologically active systems. The group has published extensively about the use of iron carbonyl complexes, organosele-nium chemistry, and biotransformations for the synthesis of natural products. So far more than 85 major natural products have been synthesized by his group. It is also developing new methods and strategies for oligosaccharide assembly and combinatorial chemistry.

The direct oxidation of primary alcohols with polymer-bound oxidants has been developed recently (Fig. 1). The immobilized oxidant is PS-TEMPO, which is used in catalytical amounts, and the stoichiometric oxidant is polymer-bound sodium chlorite. These reaction conditions are very mild and tolerate a variety of functional groups, e.g., carbamates, esters, ace-tals, and epoxides.

Figure 1. Direct oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids.

Muricatetroxin C, a higly potent anti-cancer drug, has been synthesized in Ley’s group using higly sophisticated synthetic methods. Key steps are a diastereoselective addition to an aldehyde and a Sonogashira coupling (Fig. 2, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 3622).

Figure 2. Retrosynthesis of Muricatetroxin C.

Recently, multicomponent reactions have been developed in Ley’s group: two consecutive Michael additions allow the synthesis of a great variety of complex structures (Fig. 3, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 4763).

Figure 3. Diastereoselective consecutive Michael-additions.

Ley’s Low-Calorie, Chemical-Free Risotto?

Ingredients to be put out on the bench:

finely chopped celery (half a wine glass)

Arborio rice (one wine glass)

white wine (one wine glass) garlic (lots)

chunky chopped wild mushrooms (preferably freshly picked in the Black Forest whilst walking with friends)

chicken stock... hot and lots of it

torn up rocket leaves

slivers of fresh parmesan cheese

Hidden ingredients:

butter

cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

good red wine one/two bottles - opened early so that they have time to breathe

good white wine, one bottle possibly two

Method:

Fry the mushrooms and garlic in a little olive oil. Add generous knob of butter when wife is not looking! Possibly fill her glass with wine to divert attention. Drink one glass of white wine. Set mushrooms to one side. Meanwhile, in a large risotto pan, fry the celery in a little olive oil (plus more butter) until softened and you’ve had a second glass of wine.

Add the rice and stir until it begins to squeak, then add a glass of white wine and turn down heat. Gradually add the stock, a wine glass at a time. It is advisable to use a different glass for this. By the time you have drunk the rest of the white wine, the rice should be al dente. If not, start on the red wine until it is. Add the mushrooms and mix well (fill wife’s glass so she doesn’t notice that you’ve added another knob of butter). Turn off the heat: stir in the rocket and parmesan (saving some pieces for garnish). Serve on hot plates. Add pepper and salt to taste and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy with a glass of wine if there is any left!

«No need to use a balance, NMR, or mass spectrometer... just a wine glass or two!»

Steven V. Ley