Michael Krische
- Professor
- Robert A. Welch Chair in Science
- Chemistry
Contact Information
Biography
Professor Michael J. Krische obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley (1989), where he performed research with Professor Henry Rapoport. After a year abroad as a Fulbright Fellow, he initiated doctoral studies at Stanford University with Professor Barry Trost as a Veatch Graduate Fellow. Following receipt of his Ph.D. degree (1996), he joined the laboratory of Professor Jean-Marie Lehn at the Université Louis Pasteur as an NIH Post-Doctoral Fellow. In 1999, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin. He was promoted directly to the rank of full professor (2004) and shortly thereafter appointed the Robert A. Welch Chair in Science (2007). Professor Krische has pioneered a new class of C-C bond formations that merge the characteristics of carbonyl addition and catalytic hydrogenation.
Research
Professor Krische’s research lies at the interface of enantioselective synthesis, organometallic chemistry and chemical biology. His laboratory has developed a broad, new family of stereo- and site-selective C-C couplings that merge the characteristics of catalytic hydrogenation and carbonyl addition. Hydrogenation or transfer hydrogenation of π-unsaturated hydrocarbons in the presence of carbonyl compounds or imines promotes C=X (X = O, NR) addition. In related hydrogen auto-transfer reactions, alcohols served dually as reductants and carbonyl proelectrophiles, enabling direct, enantioselective conversion of lower alcohols to higher alcohols. These methods streamline the total synthesis of polyketide natural products, enabling studies of their biological properties.
Research Areas
- Materials Science
Fields of Interest
- Chemical Biology
- Organic Chemistry
Centers and Institutes
- Texas Materials Institute
Awards
- Israeli Chemical Society, Honorary Member (2022)
- ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2020)
- Korean Society of Organic Chemistry Lectureship Award (2019)
- Ta-Shue Chou Lectureship Award, Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan (2019)
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2017)
- Royal Society of Chemistry, Pedler Award (2015)
- Eun Lee Lectureship Award, Korea (2015)
- Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellowship (2013)
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2013)
- ACS Cope Scholar Award (2013)
- GlaxoSmithKline Scholar Award (2012)
- Mukaiyama Award, Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (SSOCJ), 2010
- Humboldt Foundation Senior Research Award (2009-2011)
- Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) External Senior Fellow, 1/09- 12/11
- Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award (2009)
- Novartis Lectureship Award (2008)
- Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2007)
- Dowpharma Prize - Creativity in Chiral Chemistry (2007)
- ACS Elias J. Corey Award (2007)
- Solvias Ligand Prize (2006)
- The Society of Synthetic Chemistry, Japan Lectureship on Organic Synthesis (2005)
- Johnson & Johnson Focused Giving Award (2005)
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (2003)
- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2003)
- Eli Lilly Granteeship for Untenured Faculty (2002)
- Frasch Foundation Award in Chemistry (2002)
- Research Corporation, Cottrell Scholar Award (2002)
- UT Austin, Teaching Excellence Award (2002)
- Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2001)
- National Science Foundation, CAREER Award (2000)