Dr. Richmond Sarpong is a distinguished Ghanaian-American chemist renowned for his pioneering contributions to synthetic organic chemistry and natural product synthesis. Born on April 23, 1974, in Bechem, Ghana, he spent his formative years across West Africa with childhood and adolescent experiences in Ghana, Zambia, and Botswana before moving to the United States in 1991. He earned his B.A. in Chemistry from Macalester College in 1995 and completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at Princeton University in 2001 under Professor Martin Semmelhack, followed by postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology. Currently serving as the Henry Rapoport Endowed Chair in Organic Chemistry and Executive Associate Dean of the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Sarpong has held progressively significant leadership roles since joining the Berkeley faculty in 2004.
Dr. Sarpong's research program centers on the total synthesis of biologically active and architecturally complex natural products as a platform for developing innovative synthetic methods and strategies. His groundbreaking 'break-it-to-make-it' approach to chemical synthesis has opened new pathways for constructing intricate molecular architectures inspired by nature's chemical diversity. The Sarpong Group focuses on defining novel directions for carbon-carbon bond formation, particularly processes coupled with strain release and aromatization, which have significantly expanded the synthetic chemist's toolbox for accessing challenging natural product motifs. His innovative work on metal vinylidenes under mild reaction conditions has provided valuable approaches to C-H functionalization, while his exploration of reactive intermediates such as metallo-carbenoids and radicals has yielded important new methodologies for complex molecule assembly.
Beyond his laboratory achievements, Dr. Sarpong has established himself as a transformative mentor who treats his students and postdocs as 'coworkers' rather than subordinates, fostering independent scientific thinking and collaborative problem-solving. He serves on the editorial boards of prestigious journals including Organic Syntheses, Accounts of Chemical Research, and Synlett, helping shape the discourse in synthetic chemistry. His exceptional contributions have been recognized with numerous honors including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2017), election as a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2019), and the prestigious ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (2022). As Executive Associate Dean at Berkeley, Dr. Sarpong continues to advance innovative research while cultivating the next generation of chemists, with his group's work poised to make further significant contributions to therapeutic development and chemical synthesis.
