The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry presented to Samuel J. Danishefsky, Ph.D.

Organic synthesis of natural products began in 1828 with Wohlerʹs synthesis of urea, the first time a substance derived from a living organism had been produced by combining inorganic materials. Progress in the field was slow at first, due to the limited purification and analytical methods. Advances in those areas gave rise to rapid progress in synthesis, as chemists could now focus their energies on devising new approaches to the preparation of increasingly complex molecules. While it is possible to prepare many molecules by using known chemistry in new combinations, real progress has been the result of keen insight and creativity on the part of only a few individuals. sor Samuel J. Danishefsky established himself early on as a leader in this field when he recognized that a well-known ring forming reaction could be greatly extended by adding chemical functionality to one of the components. He then found that these new reactive components could react with heretofore unreactive components to produce new rings containing oxygen atoms both in the ring and as attachments to the ring. These products were very similar to naturally occurring sugars. Danishefsky realized that he could develop this chemistry further to produce precisely defined polysaccharides as well. Some of these polysaccharides occur on the surface of cancer cells. Using the chemistry he developed, he was able to prepare these cancer cell markers, and after combining them with certain proteins, showed that the resulting molecules behaved as cancer vaccines. Several have entered clinical trial. efsky has synthesized many other natural products, but he is particularly interested in those that may be useful in treating cancer. His syntheses allow for the modification of the final product in ways that improve both safety and efficacy. Several of these compounds have also entered clinical trials. Thus his work has not only advanced the art and science of organic synthesis, but stands to make dramatic advances in the treatment of cancer as well.