Ilan Marek
Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Room Number: 517
Phone: +972-4-8293709
Fax: +972-4-8293709
chilanm@tx.technion.ac.il
Post doc: University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 1989 in the field of organic chemistry with Prof. Leon Ghosez
Ph.D: University Pierre-et-Marie Curie, Paris, France, 1988
Research Interests
Research Abstract
Selected Publications
1. Y. Minko, M. Pasco, L. Lercher, M. Botoshansky, Ilan Marek Nature, 2012, 490, 522
2. N. Gilboa, H. Wang, K. N. Houk, I. Marek, Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 8000
3. B. Dutta, N. Gilboa, I. Marek J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 5588
4. S. Simaan, I. Marek, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 4066
5. Masarwa, I. Marek, Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16, 9712
6. J. P. Das, H. Chechik, I. Marek Nature Chem. 2009, 1, 128
2. N. Gilboa, H. Wang, K. N. Houk, I. Marek, Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 8000
3. B. Dutta, N. Gilboa, I. Marek J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 5588
4. S. Simaan, I. Marek, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 4066
5. Masarwa, I. Marek, Chem. Eur. J. 2010, 16, 9712
6. J. P. Das, H. Chechik, I. Marek Nature Chem. 2009, 1, 128
Awards
1997 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Visiting Professor Award
1997 Lawrence G. Horowitz Career Development Chair
1998 Yigal Alon Fellowship
1998 Evelyn and Salman Grand Academic Lectureship-USA
1998 Henry Gutwirth Foundation award
1999 Elected as excellent teacher (2nd semester)
2000 Klein Award for the development of environmentally safe synthetic methods
2000 Yosefa and Leonid Allschwang award, administrated by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Israel
2000 Elected as excellent teacher (2nd semester)
2002 Salomon Simon Mani Award for excellence in Teaching
2002 Michael Bruno Memorial Award 2002, administrated by the Rotschild Foundation
2002 Elected as excellent teacher (top 5% of the Technion, 1st semester)
2003 Prize for Excellent Young Chemist, The Israel Chemical Society
2004 Merck Sharpe and Dohm Lecturer
2005 Bessel Award of the Humboldt Foundation
2007 Schulich Award for Excellence in Teaching
2009 The Henry Taub Prize for Academic Excellence
2010 The German-Technion Award for Academic Excellence and Scientific Collaborations
2010 Schulich Prize for the Promotion of Extraordinary Academic Activities
2010 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
2011 Royal Society Chemistry Organometallic Award (UK)
2011 Taiwan National Science Council Visiting Scholar
2012 Schulich Award for long-term excellence in Teaching
2012 Janssen Pharmaceutica Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis
Prof. Ilan Marek
Schulich Faculty of Chemistry
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa
Israel
Scientific career
| 2005 - present | Holder of the Sir Michael and Lady Sobell Academic Chair |
| 2004 - present | Full Professor, Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology |
| 2000 - 2004 | Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology |
| 1997 - 2000 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology |
| 1995 | Habilitation |
| 1990 - 1997 | Research Position as Charge de Recherche at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France |
| 1989 - 1990 | Post-Doc at Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium |
| 1986 - 1988 | Ph. D. from Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France |
| 1986 | M. Sc., Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France |
Research areas
Professor Mareks research is focussed on organometallic chemistry applied to organic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, and asymmetric synthesis.
Thematic Series
Professor Marek edited the Thematic Series in the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry
Zen and the Art of Organic Chemistry
Prof. Ilan Marek
By Gail Lichtman
“I believe that organic chemistry is as much an art as a science. Therefore, my way of doing chemistry is not only to solve scientific problems with improved efficiency but to do so as beautifully as possible,” states Prof. Ilan Marek, the holder of the Sir Michael and Lady Sobell Chair in the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry.
Chemistry was not Marek’s first love. “I wanted to study astrophysics. But an organic chemistry teacher I had caused me to fall in love with the subject. I was struck by the beauty of molecules. I could build as I wished, creating new materials and new entities. I see myself as an architect of molecules.”
Beauty and art are not usually the first words that come to mind when speaking of science. But Marek has successfully combined the aesthetic and the scientific throughout his career in organic synthesis.
Beauty and art are not usually the first words that come to mind when speaking of science. But Marek has successfully combined the aesthetic and the scientific throughout his career in organic synthesis.
“Every organic molecule is built by carbon atoms which bond,” he explains. “The essence of organic synthesis is to create more complex molecular architecture from simpler molecules.”
“Synthetic organic chemistry is a science that deals with the building of complex organic molecules from atoms or smaller molecules,” explains Marek. “One of the applications of this new approach is a quick and efficient synthesis of complex natural materials that may be used in the pharmaceutical industry (pharma). Today, the goal is to accomplish more with less. No one can afford to follow the inefficient route of long and tedious synthesis. I try to devise strategies that go from beginning to end with as few interim steps as possible.”
The fewer steps involved, the less waste products created. Marek explains, “Until very recently, in order to get a 1kg end-product, you may need to go through numerous reactions. And you may get at the end 100 kg of waste.”
Marek and his team in the Mallat Family Laboratory of Organic Chemistry have developed a methodology that has resulted in a significant scientific breakthrough.
Marek’s expertise in devising elegant and often environmentally-friendly methods for creating sophisticated molecular frameworks is illustrated in this one-pot, single-reaction process from beginning to end, utilizing readily available raw materials, with minimum waste material. This solution could lead to large-scale reduction in pharma processes and the amount of waste these processes generate.
Published in Nature in November 2012, the solution addresses a specific and difficult problem of chirality in the formation of molecules.
“My way of doing chemistry is not only to solve scientific problems with improved efficiency but to do so as beautifully as possible.”
Chirality refers to a molecule that is not superimposable on its mirror image. “The right hand is a mirror image of the left hand,” Marek provides an example. “No matter how our hands are oriented, it is impossible for all the major features of both hands to coincide. This difference in symmetry becomes obvious if you try to put a left-handed glove on a right hand.”
Many biologically active molecules are chiral, including amino acids and sugars. Understanding chirality could lead to significant advances in drug development and food science. It would also help prevent medical disasters such as the Thalidomide tragedy, which resulted in severe birth defects, and arose out of a misunderstanding of chiral molecular characteristics and behaviors.
Marek was born in Haifa, not far from where his Technion office is today. But when he was one year old, his parents decided to return to France. “We spoke French at home, so I never learned Hebrew,” he recalls.
After completing his PhD at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris in 1988 and his post-doc at Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium in 1989, he returned to Paris as a researcher in CNRS.
“I became dissatisfied with the French system,” Marek relates. “I left France in 1997 and came back to my birthplace to join the Technion. This is a top-notch department with very warm and motivated colleagues. Interestingly, when I returned to Haifa, my own son was one year old.”
Marek has received numerous honors for his research and teaching, among them the prestigious 2012 Janssen Award for Creativity in Organic Synthesis, the 2012 Israel Chemical Society’s Prize for Excellence, and, in 2010, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Lately, he was awarded the European Research Council’s highly competitive Advanced Research Grant.
Marek recently published another new discovery in Nature ... but this is a completely different story!
Innovative Chemistry : Technion Scientists Developed A New Method, The “Zipper Approach,” For Selective Synthesis Of Complex Molecules-
Professor Ilan Marek Photo: Technion’s Spokesperson’s Office
This is a new approach to complex molecular framework for which Professor Ilan Marek from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry received a grant in the amount of 2.4 million Euros from the European Union – it is for “thinking differently about chemical synthesis and going against mainstream wisdom.”
Technion scientists developed a new method, the “zipper approach”, for selective synthesis of complex molecules. This has been reported by the prestigious scientific journal, Nature.
The synthesis of new molecules is central to the development of many areas of science frommedicine to materials science. Since the 19th century, the conventional approach to syntheses of organic materials was through the building of new bonds, mainly carbon-carbon (C-C), while controlling their spatial structure (stereochemistry). But is this the only way to create complex organic molecules, asked Prof. Marek
According to an article published by the prestigious scientific journal, Nature, Professor Ilan Marek and his research team from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, have demonstrated for the first time, a novel approach through selective bond activation that combines the simultaneous activation and fragmentation of otherwise difficult transformations: allylic C-H (H=Hydrogen) and selective C-C bond activations.
To reach this goal, they used a molecule that has on one of its sides some strain, because of a presence of a three-membered ring, and on its other side a double bond. By adding zirconium complexes, they were able to initiate a double bond migration, similar to -the zipping action of a zipper, up towards the three-membered ring, causing a selective cleavage of one carbon-carbon bond of the strained ring.
“It’s much like zipping up your jacket, joining both sides of the zipper from the bottom end and zipping it upwards,” explains Professor Marek. “Sometimes the link between the two sides disconnect when you move the zipper up. We were able to conceive this detachment and fragment it in a premeditative manner to achieve our target.”
This breakthrough is linked to a publication made a year ago, also in Nature, in which Professor Marek’s team reported an innovative approach for creating molecules possessing a specific chiral center in a single-pot operation using only primary material. Up till then, only few scientists reached this point through tedious synthetic approaches.
Both of these groundbreaking studies by Professor Marek have far-reaching implications for the synthesis and development of new drugs and have aroused great interest in the scientific and industrial community. For his “innovative and alternative way of thinking about synthetic chemistry which went against the mainstream” Professor Marek has now received a grant in the amount of 2.4 million Euros from the European Union. He is getting ready to recruit additional researchers to assist in this promising research.
For developing unconventional methods of synthesis, Professor Ilan Marek received in 2012 the Israel Chemical Society (ICS) Award for Excellence and the Janssen Pharmaceutical Prize for Creativity in Organic Synthesis and the Moore Distinguished Scholar Appointment from the California Institute of Technology.
Read more about: against, Chemistry, Complex Molecules, Professor Ilan Marek, Professor Marek, research,Selective Synthesis, Technion, The “Zipper Approach”
Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie with 2015 Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education award winners (from right to left): Prof. Danny Raz, Assoc. Prof. Ran El-Yaniv, Assoc. Prof. Shlomo Bekhor, Assoc. Prof. Mark Talesnick, Asst. Prof. Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, Prof. Daniel Lewin, Prof. Joseph Avron, Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, Prof. Joseph Ben-Asher, Prof. Ross Pinsky, Prof. Ilan Marek, Asst. Prof. Moran Bercovici, with Omar Amit, the Chairman of the Technion’s Student UnionEleven Technion faculty members to receive the Yanai prize for Excellence in Academic Education
The Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education has been awarded for the fifth consecutive time through a substantial donation towards the promotion of academic education at the Technion, “In appreciation of faculty members, who set an example through their endless contributions to teaching and learning and for their efforts to improve student involvement and sense of belonging to the Technion.”
The eleven faculty members awarded the prestigious Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education are: ·
- Professor Joseph Avron, from the Faculty of Physics · Associate Professor Ran El-Yaniv, from the Faculty of Computer Science ·
- Associate Professor Shlomo Bekhor, from the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering ·
- Professor Joseph Ben-Asher, from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering ·
- Assistant Professor Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, from the Faculty of Education in Technology and Science ·
- Assistant Professor Moran Bercovici, from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering ·
- Associate Professor Mark Talesnick, from the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering ·
- Professor Daniel Lewin, from the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering ·
- Professor Ilan Marek, from the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry ·
- Professor Ross Pinsky, from the Faculty of Mathematics ·
- Professor Danny Raz, from the Faculty of Computer Science
“Yanai Prize winners are exemplary individuals, and they embody the close ties between research excellence and teaching excellence,” said Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie in his speech at the award ceremony. “The Yanai Prize for Excellence in Academic Education was established in order to improve the quality of teaching at the Technion. A change was apparent from the very first year that it was awarded, and ever since it became a brand synonymous with excellence in teaching.
Technion’s 2016 Yanai Prize award winners are role models; the phrase ‘Yanai Prize winner’ has evolved into a desirable standard for excellence in teaching.” In her speech, Prof. Hagit Attiya, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, said, “Yanai Prize winners are the torchbearer leading the way for others to follow. They are exemplary individuals worthy of imitation. This is the most important and significant award given by the Technion for excellence in teaching, and clearly illustrates and defines the value Technion places on teaching.”
“You don’t view teaching as a burden, but as an opportunity,” said Omar Amit, the Chairman of the Technion’s Student Union (ASAT) at the ceremony. “Studies at the Technion are not easy. Technion students come here to study, not just to pass the time or to please their parents. You understand the power you have in your hands and you give them what they need most – inspiration.”
Moshe Yanai, a global pioneer in the field of information storage, in making his generous contribution, sought to give back to the institute in gratitude for the life skills that he gained during his studies here 40 years ago. Looking back he recalls the years of study at the university had been hard and difficult, and to this end decided together with Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie, to contribute 12 million dollars to award lecturers who have demonstrated teaching excellence – a gift that would in turn also greatly benefit Technion students. The prize, which awards 100,000 ILS to each prize winner, will be given over a period of ten years.
In his closing remarks Yanai thanked the Technion for allowing him to meaningfully and effectively contribute to Israeli society. “The Technion helped build the foundations of the State of Israel and has had a tremendous impact on the country’s economic strength; I for one can say that the institute has had a far-reaching influence on my life and I have a lot to be grateful for. It is commonplace that academic institutes rely most on research and publications with teaching taking on a backseat. The significance of this prize is that it places a spotlight on teaching and educating and brings it out to the forefront. Although research and publications are very important, the value of teaching and academic education at the strategic level supersedes them. I would like to thank the Technion President as well as all of the staff members who invested great efforts in turning this dream of mine into a reality. I would also like to express my sincerest gratitude to all of tonight’s award winners who have selflessly placed the interests of the community above their own.”
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