Sharpless Reaction

Science magazine hailed the Sharpless Reaction (a.k.a. asymmetric epoxidation reaction) as "the most innovative. reaction introduced in organic chemistry in moder times." The technique for synthesizing organic compounds improved the ways pharmaceutical drugs and other useful chemical compounds are produced. Inventor Karl Barry Sharpless '63 taught at MIT for two decades and is now at Scripps Research Institute, where he continues his search for still more ways to synthesize organic molecules.