2001 Meek Lecturer:
Dr. Edward J.J. Grabowski, Merck Research Laboratories
Dr. Edward J.J. Grabowski is currently Executive Director of Process
Research at the Merck Research Laboratories, a Division of Merck &
Company, Inc., in Rahway, NJ. He graduated with a B.Sc. in chemistry
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961 and received his
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1965. He
then joined the Process Research Department at the Merck Research Labs
where he has been for the past 36 years. He is a member of the Organic
Synthesis Editorial Board. He has also served as a member of the ACS's
Petroleum Research Fund's Advisory Board from 1994-2000 on the committee
responsible for reviewing proposals in physical organic chemistry,
biochemistry and chemical biology. He is a co-author on approximately 80
research papers and reviews, a co-inventor on more than 40 US patents,
and has presented over 100 invited lectures at symposia and universities
over the years. He has also presented courses on process research at the
University of Wisconsin, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
the Catholic University of Louvain. He was Chair of the 1993 Gordon
Research Conference on Organic Reactions & Processes, and on the
organizing committee for the 1990 Reaction Mechanisms Conference. In
2001 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of North Jersey Section
of the American Chemical Society.
His research interests are program-driven and are focused on the design
and development of practical syntheses of MRL's drug candidates and
products. They have encompassed contributions in synthetic and physical
organic chemistry to such diverse areas as: heterocyclic chemistry
(pyrazines, imidazoles, 5,11-diazaditwistanes, condensed heterocyclic
systems); carbapenem antibiotics (thienamycin, MRSA carbapenems); amino
acid chemistry; catalytic enantioselective phase transfer alkylation
reactions; silylation-mediated quinone oxidation reactions and oxidations
in general; enzyme-mediated syntheses; natural product chemistry,
oxazaborolidine reactions; resolution methods in lieu of enantioselective
syntheses; enantioselective acetylide additions mediated by asymmetric
aminoalkoxides, enantioselective syntheses and methods in general;
photochemistry and reaction mechanisms. His chemical contributions are
reflected in the manufacturing processes for the following Merck drugs:
AGGRASTAT®, CLINORIL®, FOSAMAX®, PRIMAXIN®, PROSCAR®, STOCRIN®, and
VIOXX®.
His non-chemistry pursuits include a serious interest in classical music,
particularly the string quartets of Beethoven, and the philately and
postal history of the French Colonial Empire. Relative to the latter, he
was elected to the membership in the Académie de la Philatélie in France
in 1999.
See
photos from the 2001 Meek Lecture
Dr. Grabowski presented the following lectures:
Lecture One
Thursday, May 3, 2001:
"The Design and Development of
Practical Syntheses: A Potpourri of Research Problems"
The Meek Lecture
Friday, May 4, 2001
"The Design and Development of
Practical Syntheses: Anti-MRSA Carbapenems"
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