The Sika Experience

We are very proud to announce that this year’s Sika award has been granted to Benedikt Wanner a student of ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland). He has written the best master thesis in Polymerchemistry and Organic Synthesis in 2011 at the ETH!

Are you ready to go into details why Benedikt’s thesis was so outstanding?

The topic of Benedikt’s winning Master Thesis is the development of a catalytic, enantioselective synthesis of dihydropyridones from simple, widely available starting materials. These products are highly sought as scaffolds for the synthesis of bioactive compounds. It proved critical to have the correct enantiomer and to prepare enantioenriched variants. Surprisingly, and against the conventional wisdom, Mr. Wanner found that he could do this reaction best without protecting groups on the nitrogen. The products can be synthesized in two steps, therefore, they are directly amenable to further elaboration. This project, from conception to publication, was accomplished in less than three months! Wow!

In the picture below you see myself congratulating this promising young scientist.

The Sika Award 2011 goes to the student who wrote the best master thesis in Polymerchemistry and Organic Synthesis in 2011. The Sika Master Award is endowed with CHF 2’000 and is the highest endowed price for a master thesis in this department. Such prices are enormously important to young scientists as they support young people in their career start. Congratulations to Benedikt!