Modern Natural Product Synthesis

Masahisa Nakada received his doctor’s degree at University of Tokyo under the supervision of Prof. Masaji Ohno in 1988. In 1987, Nakada joined the faculty at University of Tokyo as an assistant professor. In the meantime, he visited The Scripps Research Institute during 1992-­1993, where he joined the research group of Prof. K. C. Nicolaou. In 1993, he came back to University of Tokyo as an assistant professor for Prof. Masakatsu Shibasaki. In 1995, he was appointed as an associate professor of Waseda University, and was promoted to a full professor in 2000.His research interests include total synthesis of bioactive complex natural products, asymmetric catalysis, new reactions and methodologies, and chemical biology based on the total synthesis.  

Keiji Tanino received his master's degree in 1987 from Tokyo Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Isao Kuwajima. He was appointed as an assistant professor of the Kuwajima’s group at TIT in 1989 and received his doctor's degree in 1994. In 1998, he joined Prof. Masaaki Miyashita's group in Hokkaido University and was appointed as an associate professor in 1999. In 2006, he was promoted to a full professor. His research interests are centered on total synthesis of complex natural products based on original synthetic reactions and methodologies. 

Kazuo Nagasawa received his Ph.D. degree in Applied Chemistry from Waseda University, Tokyo in 1993 under the supervision of Prof. Isao Shimizu. He joined The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) as a Researcher in April 1993. In 2001, he became an Associate Professor, Institute of Molecular and Biosciences, The University of Tokyo. Then, he moved to Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in 2004, promoted to a Professor in 2009. Currently, he is a Vice-President of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology since 2022. His research interests include total synthesis of biologically active natural products, development of organocatalysis, and chemical biology in high-order structures of nucleic acids. 

Satoshi Yokoshima received his doctor’s degree in 2002 from The University of Tokyo under the guidance of Professor Tohru Fukuyama. After working for Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation as a medicinal chemist (2002–2004), he joined Professor Fukuyama’s group at The University of Tokyo as an assistant professor. He was promoted to lecturer in 2008 and to associate professor in 2011. In 2012 he moved to Nagoya University as an associate professor, and was promoted to professor in 2017. His current research interests focus on the synthesis of natural products with polycyclic systems and molecules with biological functions, as well as development of novel synthetic methods.