From synthetic methodology to making molecules with a mission – a research summary of the first 10 years
Date
2011-06
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
Willem van Otterlo was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. As a child
he moved to Southern Africa and received his primary and secondary
schooling in Windhoek, Namibia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1989 he
started his BSc and in 1999 he graduated with a PhD that involved the synthesis of
analogues of the michellamines. The PhD was performed under the mentorship of
Profs CB de Koning and JP Michael at the School of Chemistry, University of the
Witwatersrand (WITS), Johannesburg. He then spent two years in the research
group of Prof. Stephen Hanessian (University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
as a postdoctoral fellow, involved in projects focused on medicinal chemistry
and synthesis utilising peptide-based building blocks. In 2001 he returned to his
alma mater to take up a lecturing position and initiated a research programme
involving the application of organometallic reagents to the synthesis of small
benzo-fused molecules, eventually attaining the rank of Associate Professor. In
July 2008 he joined Prof. Dr Herbert Waldmann’s Chemical Biology group at
the Max Planck Institute, Dortmund, as a von Humboldt (Georg-Forster) Research Fellow for a
sabbatical year to learn more about the interaction between chemistry and biology. He then took
up the Chair of Organic Chemistry at Stellenbosch University, Western Cape. Since June 2010 he
has been striving to nurture a team environment at the Department of Chemistry and Polymer
Sciences so that organic and medicinal chemistry research can be performed in collaboration with
talented colleagues. His current research interests are focused on the synthesis of small molecules
with potential bioactivity, particularly molecules based on natural templates such as pancratistatin,
podophyllotoxin, colchicine and purpurogallin, as well as research focused on the design of better
ligands for enzymes (kinases and phosphatases) and nuclear receptors (estrogen receptor).
Description
Keywords
Organic compounds -- Synthesis, Metathesis (Chemistry)