معرفی
Masahisa Nakada is a Professor at Waseda University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry. With a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo, he leads a research group focused on synthetic organic chemistry methodologies and natural product synthesis.
His research interests span Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Drug Development Sciences, Bioorganic Chemistry, Structural Organic Chemistry, Physical Organic Chemistry, Chemical Pharmacology, and Molecular Pharmacology. Nakada's work emphasizes developing novel asymmetric catalytic methods, particularly gold-catalyzed cycloisomerizations, intramolecular cyclopropanations, and cascade reactions for constructing complex natural product scaffolds.
Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on stereoselective synthesis of bioactive natural products with complex architectures, including terpenoids, diterpenoids, and polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols. His group has pioneered methodologies involving gold catalysis, N-heterocyclic carbene ligands, and copper-catalyzed asymmetric reactions, with applications to the synthesis of taxol, platensimycin, and various medicinally relevant compounds.
Scientific Awards:
- Astellas Pharma Bioorganic Chemistry Award from the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2008)
- Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Encouragement Award (2008)
- Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Encouragement Award (1997)
Professor Nakada's research program has resulted in over 155 publications with more than 4290 citations and an h-index of 39 (as of September 2025), demonstrating significant impact in the field of organic synthesis. His work involves extensive collaboration with students and researchers, as evidenced by the numerous co-authored publications across various synthetic methodologies and natural product syntheses.
Nakada's laboratory appears to specialize in the development of chiral catalysts, particularly N-heterocyclic carbene-gold complexes, and their application to challenging asymmetric transformations essential for the synthesis of complex natural products with pharmaceutical relevance.
