- 2018 Wolf Prize in Chemistry
Intro
One of the Japanese chemists who has published the most papers in the journals Nature and Science. He shared the 2018 Wolf Prize in Chemistry with Omar Yaghi “for conceiving metal-directed assembly principles leading to large highly porous complexes”.
Education and Work Experience
1987, Ph.D., Tokyo Institute of Technology
2002-Present, Professor of School of Engineering, University of Tokyo 2014-2019, Project Leader, JST ACCEL
2018-Present, Distinguished Professor, Division of Advanced Molecular Science, Institute for Molecular Science (IMS)
Honors and Awards
2012, Thomson Reuters Research Front Award
2014, Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon
2018, Wolf Prize in Chemistry
Major Academic Achievements
Fujita was recognized for his research on metal-guided synthesis and for detailing metal-directed assembly principles leading to large highly porous complexes. Much of chemistry is devoted to creating molecules by forming strong covalent bonds between atoms. Supramolecular chemistry, in contrast, examines the interactions between molecules to create novel molecules. Fujita introduced the concept of metal-guided synthesis, or metal-directed self-assembly to supramolecular chemistry, creating building blocks from transition metal groups and organic molecules that self-assemble into large, stable cyclic and three-dimensional (3D) structures. Fujita's ground-breaking application of porous metal organic framework structures to molecular detection has
the potential to be of great help to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and natural product synthesis industries in the future.