Supramolecular Chemistry Award Current Winner

Distinguished for his study of synthetic routes to new supramolecular structures and the design of new structural classes with specific properties.

About the winner

Harry Anderson's research reflects a fascination with the interplay between electronic delocalisation, molecular architecture and function.  Most of his projects are highly collaborative, involving physics, cell biology and physical chemistry, as well as organic synthesis.

He has pioneered the creation of porphyrin-based molecular wires with a wealth of nonlinear-optical properties.  His group has also made important contributions to the development of polyrotaxane insulated molecular wires.  This work aims to establish new paradigms for the design and synthesis of functional molecular materials by understanding structure-property relationships and by developing routes to previously inaccessible architectures.

Harry received his BA from Oxford University and his PhD from Cambridge University, working with Jeremy Sanders.  He was appointed to a lectureship in Oxford in 1994, after postdoctoral research with Francois Diederich, at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.  He was promoted to become a professor of chemistry in 2004.

He has been awarded the RSC Corday-Morgan prize in 2001 and also the Award for Materials Chemistry in 2003.