In honour of Wang You, an outstanding organic chemist in China, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry set up Wang You Science Lecture. We welcomed the second lecturer of 2008 Wang You Science Lecture—Professor Larry E. Overman at the Department of Chemistry of University of California Irvine USA. Academician Lin Guoqiang, the director of Academic Committee of the Institute presided over this activity of “Wang You Science Lecture”. He introduced the original intention and meaning of setting up “Wang You Science Lecture” to teachers and students firstly. Wang You, being an outstanding organic chemist in China, devoted all his life to the science undertakings of China, made great contributions, which are recognized in the world. To carry forward Wang You’s spirit, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry set up “Wang You Science Lecture” specially. Academician Lin Guoqiang also introduced Professor Overman’s academic experience briefly.

Professor Overman made an academic report titled “Recent Studies in Enantioselective Natural Products Total Synthesis” to teachers and students and told about the total synthesis work of natural products such as (+)-sarain A, (+)-gliocladin C and (-)-actinophyllic acid, which was conducted in his laboratory then. The report was full of contents and excellent and the whole lecture hall was filled to capacity.

The research interest of Professor Overman focuses on the research and discovery of new conversion method and strategy of organic synthesis and natural product total synthesis. In his earlier research work, he developed widely-used and practical method of preparing allyl nitrogen compound using allyl alcohol. Professor Overman and his cooperators also developed a complete set of cyclization reaction method, which can be used for constructing new heterocyclic ring and carbocyclic ring and control stereochemistry effectively in the mean time. In which aza-Cope-Mannich rearrangement reaction becomes the cornerstone of a series of alkaloid total synthesis. Professor Overman also created the intramolecularly insertion reaction of organic palladium intermediate, which is used for assembling complicated polycyclic molecule, especially those polycyclic molecules containing crowed quaternary carbon center. Professor Overman’s research group has completed the total synthesis of more than 100 natural products with complicated structures using these synthesis strategies.

Professor Overman ever won numerous science awards for his outstanding achievements in chemistry, including Arthur C. Cope Award of American Chemistry Society, Innovation Award of Organic Synthetic Chemistry of American Chemistry Society, Organic Chemistry Nagoya Medal, Science and Technology Progress S. T. Li Award, Century Medal of British Chemistry Society, Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award of American Chemistry Society. He is an academician of American Academy of Sciences and holds the post of director of Department of Chemistry of American Academy of Sciences, and he is an academician of American Academy of Arts & Sciences, too.

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