Morten P. Meldal

Morten P. Meldal (born 1954 in Denmark) is a Danish chemist. He is a professor of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen[1] in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for developing the CuAAC-click reaction.[2][3]

Meldal received B.S. and Ph.D degrees in Chemical Engineering from DTU; his Ph.D. work focused on the synthetic chemistry of oligosaccharides. From 1983-1988 he was an independent research associate in organic chemistry at DTU and University of Copenhagen. During 1985 and 1986 he performed postdoctoral work at Cambridge University; he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Medical Research Council Center, Laboratory of Molecular Biology.[4] In 1996 he was appointed adjunct professor at Danish Technical University. Since 1998 he has led the synthesis group in the Department of Chemistry of the Carlsberg Laboratory[5] and since 1997, he has served as head of the Solid-Phase Organic Chemistry and Enzymatic Reaction Center (SPOCC).

Biography

Meldal developed several technological techniques and instruments for peptide synthesis near the start of his career. He developed the multiple column synthesis used in peptide and organic synthesis instrumentation as well as for assembling large split-mix libraries. He first presented the (cycloaddition) of acetylenes and azides used in peptide and protein conjugations, in polymers and in Material sciences. Meldal's group has then showed this reaction to be completely orthogonal to the majority of functional group chemistries. They later developed solid supports that have facilitated the merger of solid phase peptide- and peptide-organic chemistry with solid phase chemical biology and protein chemistry.

More recently Meldal has developed an optical encoding technique and has been focused on the merger of organic chemistry and peptide chemistry on solid support. He has devised a range of novel methods on the generation of N-acyl iminium ions which combinatorial libraries of these compounds have generated and screened for active GPCR substances in cell-based on-bead screening.

Achievements
  • Meldal developed a large range of chemical technologies based on temporary protection schemes for glycopeptide synthesis, including linked glycopeptides, that were used in characterization of the immunological response to cancer- related mucins. A concept of using template based glycopeptide mimetics is currently employed in biochemical studies.
  • Developed solid phase synthesis of combinatorial libraries of peptides containing phosphinic acid as transition state analogs and identified nanomolar selective inhibitors for metalloproteases involved in osteoclast migration towards the control of osteoporosis.
  • Developed the concept of organozymes and peptide-based cage-like receptors that recognize, e.g., sugar water.
  • Introduced a solid phase synthesis technique that allowed clean activation.

Awards and honors
  • Kirstine Meyers Award (Denmark) (1988)
  • Danish Society of Chemistry Award (1990)
  • research award from the EU-Science Program (Belgium) (1992)
  • travel award from NATO (1992)
  • research award from the Mitzutani Foundation (Japan) (1995)
  • NKT Award from the Chemical Society of Denmark (1996)
  • Leonidas Zervas Award from the European Peptide Society (1996)
  • research award from the EU-INCO-DC program (1996)
  • Niels Bjerrum Gold Medal in Chemistry (1997)
  • research award from the Danish National Research Foundation (1997)
  • research award from the Danish Cancer Society (1997)
  • Presented the Bjerrum-Brønsted-Lang Lecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (1999)
  • Received the Ralph F. Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (2009)[6]
  • Co-founder and chairman of the Society of Combinatorial Sciences (SCS)
  • Member of the Danish National Academy
  • Member of the editorial board of Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry
  • Member of the editorial board of ChemBioChem journal.

His group have published over 250 articles and have filed 20 patents covering areas both in organic and bioorganic chemistry.

References
  1. "Morten Meldal is the new professor in nanochemistry". Nano- Science Center. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  2. Tornøe, C.W. and Meldal, M., Peptidotriazoles: Copper(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions on solid-phase. In: Lebl, M., Houghten, R.A. (Eds.), American Peptide Society and Kluwer Academic Publishers, San Diego, 2001, pp. 263-4.
  3. Bing Yan; Anthony W. Czarnik (eds.). "five". Optimization of Solid-Phase Combinatorial Synthesis (1 ed.). USA: CRC Press. p. 408. Retrieved 5 April 2014. and Meldal, M., Peptidotriazoles on solid-phase.
  4. "LMB Alumni". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  5. Rademann, Jorg (29 May 1999). "SPOCC: A Resin for Solid-Phase Organic Chemistry and Enzymatic Reactions on Solid Phase". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 23 (121): 5459–5466. doi:10.1021/ja984355i.
  6. Lubell, William D. (Spring 2010). "Morten P. Meldal, 2009 Ralph F. Hirschmann Awardee, Follows in Hirschmann's Footsteps" (PDF). American Peptide Society Newsletter. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
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