Interview with Ben L. Feringa

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Ben L. Feringa obtained his PhD degree in 1978 at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands under the guidance of Professor Hans Wynberg. After working as a research scientist at Shell in the Netherlands and the UK, he was appointed lecturer and in 1988 full professor at the University of Groningen, and named the Jacobus H. van't Hoff Distinguished Professor of Molecular Sciences in 2004. He was elected Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is Member and currently Vice-President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. In 2008 he was appointed Academy Professor and was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands. Feringa is currently director of the Center for Systems Chemistry at the University of Groningen. His research interest includes stereochemistry, organic synthesis, asymmetric catalysis, molecular switches and motors, self-assembly and molecular nanosystems.

Do you remember what it felt like to publish your first ChemComm article?

I was excited seeing the work published in ChemComm knowing that it was a world leading journal for really novel chemical discoveries. This was at a very early stage in my career when I prepared a remarkably stable primary enamine and could use it in a new route to dihydropyridines (J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1985, 466).

How has your research evolved from your first to your most recent article?

I was the single author on the ChemComm paper and that has not happened often since as we usually work with a team of students and postdocs on a molecular systems or catalysis problem. Following my research work in the eighties in the Shell Biosciences Laboratories in the UK my research program has not seen much involvement in heterocyclic synthesis for bioactive compounds as we focused on asymmetric catalysis and molecular switches and motors. However, I realise now that three recent ChemComm papers of our group deal with pyrans, chromones and quinolones. The main evolution in our program has been from molecular structure to molecular function and dynamic systems.

What do you like most about publishing in ChemComm?

Every week one reads some intriguing new findings in ChemComm. As our groups interests are rather broad, we do not want to miss a single issue. The scope of the journal, the quality of the science and the rapid and professional handling of the manuscripts are greatly appreciated. And of course the way the chemistry is presented including free color.

What aspect of your research are you most excited about at the moment?

I am very excited about the opportunities to design dynamic molecular systems in which we can control all kinds of properties by intrinsic switch and motor functions. The challenge is to assemble multi-component systems and then drive the system out of equilibrium for instance by light or catalysis. The move from molecules to molecular systems and from equilibrium to non-equilibrium opens many new territories in chemical sciences ranging from responsive supramolecular materials to control of biological function. On the other hand we are very much challenged by fundamental aspects of catalysis and stereochemistry; looking in the molecular mirror continues to trigger fascination.

What is the best part of your job?

Working with highly talented and very creative young people every day. The other part that I enjoy a lot is being involved in the art of building small; the ability as a synthetic chemist to design and create our own small part of a molecular world that does not yet exist.

What is the secret to success in scientific publishing?

In my opinion a regular number of novel discoveries; the feeling of amazement reading a new issue of a journal and seeing remarkable findings.

What is your advice to young emerging scientists?

Not to be afraid to ask daring questions and to enter into an adventure with chemistry. The molecular world is unlimited and the molecular approach is central in tackling many of the major challenges in science and society ranging from materials and energy carriers to the drugs of the future.

What do you do in your spare time?

Chemistry is my hobby, but I greatly enjoying family events, hiking, reading, ice skating and growing vegetables.

By the time I'm 100 I would like to have…

Discovered the origin of homochirality on the earth but that is most probably just a dream.

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