Organic Chemistry

Aduro Biotech creates new postdoc diversity fellowship at Berkeley

September 16, 2018

Jennifer DoudnaProfessor of Chemistry Richmond Sarpong, and Chairman, President and CEO of Aduro Biotech, Stephen Isaacs, discuss the Aduro-UC Berkeley Underrepresented Postdoctoral Fellowship Program which was launched in 2018. Sarpong is seen here with the first fellowship recipient Alex Rovira.

Richmond Sarpong has been awarded the Inhoffen Medal

July 15, 2025
Richmond Sarpong has been recognized for his exceptional contributions as an organic chemist, particularly in the field of natural products synthesis and the development of chemical methods.

Margaret Chu-Moyer: The elemental rise of an alum

May 2, 2024
Chemist Chu-Moyer, a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Chemistry, remembers wondering how medicines worked early in life.

Hartwig wins Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis

July 14, 2014
Chemistry Professor John Hartwig has been awarded the 2014 Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis. The prize will be delivered after the lecture Hartwig will give at a symposium on Thursday, July 17, at the Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium (BOSS).

John Hartwig: The 2019 Wolf Prize and the importance of fundamental research in the discovery of synthetic catalysts

March 9, 2019

John Hartwig (Ph.D.’90, Chem), is the Henry Rapoport Professor in Organic Chemistry at UC Berkeley. He joined the senior faculty at the College of Chemistry in 2011. His research group is focused on the discovery and understanding of new reactions of organic compounds catalyzed by transition metal complexes and artificial metalloenzymes. Among the many potential applications are catalysts for pharmaceuticals, renewable chemicals, and fuels.

Hartwig did his graduate research at UC Berkeley with advisors Robert Bergman...

Microbes provide sustainable hydrocarbons for petrochemical industry

January 7, 2022

Illustration of a bio-petroleum process

Researchers from UC Berkeley and the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers have developed a chemical technology that combines fermentation and chemical refining (center panels) to produce petroleum-like liquids (right) from renewable plants (left). (Image by John Beumer, courtesy of NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers)

If the petrochemical industry is ever to wean...

Meet our faculty: Robert Bergman

December 10, 2019

Professor Bergman in front of white board.

Prof. Bob Bergman outlines a simple technique for generating parabenzynes. image: Berkeley Science Review

In the newly released fall edition of the Berkeley graduate science magazine, Robert (Bob) Bergman is featured as the faculty profile. Learn about our esteemed faculty member who has blazed trails in both organic and organometallic chemistry.

From the...

Peidong Yang and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners announce research partnership

August 19, 2022
In a new partnership, The Peidong Yang research group will work with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) to develop technology that will convert air into sugar.

New process vaporizes plastic bags and bottles, yielding gases to make new, recycled plastics

August 29, 2024
The catalytic process, discovered by researchers at UC Berkeley, efficiently reduces polymers to chemical precursors, bringing a circular economy for plastics one step closer to reality.

Michelle Chang awarded the Dr. Margaret Faul Award for Women in Chemistry

April 28, 2023

Michelle Chang

The College of Chemistry is delighted to announce that Professor of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Michelle Chang has been chosen as the 2023 recipient of the Dr. Margaret Faul Award for Women in Chemistry.

The award was announced by Thieme and the...