// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did Eric Jacobsen's compounds go to therapy? They had bonding issues.

Eric Niels Jacobsen
Born	(1960-02-22) February 22, 1960 New York City, New York
Alma mater	New York University University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Jacobsen epoxidation Hydrogen-bond catalysis
Awards	Bristol-DTC-Syngenta Award, Remsen Award, Fannie–Cox Teaching Award, Harvard University
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	Harvard University
Thesis	Synthesis and Reactions of Dinuclear Transition Metal Complexes Containing Bridging Ligands Relevant to Heterogeneous Catalysis (1986)
Doctoral advisor	Robert G. Bergman
Other academic advisors	Karl Barry Sharpless Yorke E. Rhodes
Doctoral students	Emily Balskus Sukbok Chang Abigail Doyle Song Lin
Other notable students	Post-docs: Sarah E Reisman Tehshik Yoon Timothy F. Jamison James L. Leighton Matthew Sigman M. Christina White

Eric Niels Jacobsen (born February 22, 1960, in New York City, New York) is the Sheldon Emery Professor of Chemistry and former chair of the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University. He is a prominent figure in the field of organic chemistry and is best known for the development of the Jacobsen epoxidation and other work in selective catalysis.

Early life and education

Jacobsen was born on February 22, 1960, in New York City. Jacobsen attended New York University for his undergraduate studies, graduating with his B.S. in 1982. He attended the University of California, Berkeley for graduate school, earning his Ph.D. in 1986 under the tutelage of Robert G. Bergman. He subsequently joined the laboratory of Barry Sharpless, then at MIT, as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. He began his independent career as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. In 1993 he moved to Harvard as a full professor.

Notable contributions

Jacobsen has developed catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation, hydrolytic kinetic resolution and desymmetrization of epoxides, asymmetric pericyclic reactions, and asymmetric additions to imines.

Awards

• 2013 – Remsen Award
• 2024 – Tetrahedron Prize

External links

• Jacobsen Group at Harvard