Mitsuo Sawamoto (澤本光男 ''Sawamoto Mitsuo'', December 12, 1954) is a Japanese

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

specializing in the field of

polymer chemistry Polymer chemistry is a sub-discipline of chemistry that focuses on the structures, chemical synthesis, and chemical and physical properties of polymers and macromolecules. The principles and methods used within polymer chemistry are also applic ...

, Emeritus Professor at

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

, professor at Chubu University. He is co-recipient of the Franklin Institute Award in Chemistry in 2017 with Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, for their independent discover of Atom-transfer radical-polymerization (ATRP).

Early life and education

Sawamoto was born in

Kyoto, Japan Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...

, on December 12, 1954. He received his BSc, MSc and PhD degree in 1974, 1976 and 1979, respectively, from

Career

From 1980 to 1981, he worked as a postdoctoral scientist at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

, becoming a professor at Akron in 1981. A decade later, he moved to the Graduate School of Engineering of

, where he was a professor of

. From 2008 to 2010 Sawamoto was president of The Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ). He is currently a member of the

Science Council of Japan The Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is a representative organization of Japanese scholars and scientists in all fields of sciences, including humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. , president of Toyohashi ...

. He is one of the editors of ''

Journal of Polymer Science Part A A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''.

Research

Sawamoto discovered the world's first living

cationic polymerization In polymer chemistry, cationic polymerization is a type of Chain growth polymerisation, chain growth polymerization in which a cationic initiator transfers charge to a monomer, which then becomes reactive. This reactive monomer goes on to react si ...

and developed numerous initiator systems (Macromolecules, 1984; Progress in Polymer Science, 1991). In addition, he realized the world's first living free-radical polymerization by a metal complex and developed numerous initiator systems (Macromolecules, 1995; Chemical Reviews, 2001). In 1995, SawamotoMitsuru Kato, Masami Kamigaito, Mitsuo Sawamoto, Toshinobu Higashimura: ''Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate with the Carbon Tetrachloride/Dichlorotris- (triphenylphosphine)ruthenium(II)/Methylaluminum Bis(2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxide) Initiating System: Possibility of Living Radical Polymerization.'' In: ''Macromolecules.'' 28, 1995, S. 1721–1723, doi:10.1021/ma00109a056. and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Jin-Shan Wang, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski: ''Controlled/"living" radical polymerization. atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of transition-metal complexes.'' In: ''

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' (also known as JACS) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ...

.'' 117, 1995, S. 5614–5615, doi:10.1021/ja00125a035. described Atom-transfer radical-polymerization (ATRP) almost simultaneously and independently. Until 2008, Sawamoto published more than 350 original works and more than 30 systematic reviews. Among them, in the field of

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

, his total citation times (1997-2001) was ranked first in Japan, and third in the world. This series of research inspired many studies internationally in not only

but also related fields such as

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

, and its ripple effect is particularly noticeable. Sawamoto was given a quote in March 2011:

Miraculous, ingenious, creative but sincere:
This is catalytic science research is all about.澤本光男 Mitsuo Sawamoto , Chem-Station (ケムステ)
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Recognition

* 1997: The Award of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan * 1999: The Award of the

Chemical Society of Japan The (CSJ) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1878 in order to advance research in chemistry. The mission of the CSJ is to promote chemistry for science and industry in collaboration with other domestic and global socie ...

* 2002: The Arthur K. Doolittle Award (

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

) * 2012: Macro Group UK Medal for Outstanding Achievementin Polymer Science * 2013: SPSJ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Polymer Science and Technology * 2014: NIMS Award * 2015: Medal with Purple Ribbon * 2016:

Humboldt Prize The Humboldt Research Award (), also known informally as the Humboldt Prize, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of ...

* 2017: Franklin Institute Award in Chemistry * 2021:

Clarivate Citation Laureates Clarivate Citation Laureates, formerly Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates, is a list of candidates considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in their respective field. The candidates are so named based on the citation impact of their published rese ...

References

External links