Prof. Javier de Mendoza, ICIQ emeritus professor and group leader, is the 4th recipient of the C. David Gutsche Award, as has announced the Advisory Committee of the International Conference on Calixarenes.

The committee has recognized his pioneering and fundamental work on calixarenes, their functionalization, and the use of NMR to elucidate more properly their conformations, as well as de Mendoza’s ability to use molecular modelling as a tool to design self-assembled nanocages, receptors for anions and ligands for biomacromolecules, especially proteins. Moreover, the committee recognizes de Mendoza as a “truly inspiring example of how an academician can take the fundamental principles of supramolecular chemistry and build a portfolio of impactful technologies with the potential to address disease and affect lives.” As part of the recognition, de Mendoza will deliver a lecture at the next International Conference on Calixarenes, in New Orleans, USA July 10-14th 2022.

The C. David Gutsche Award is a biennial award made to a senior researcher who has made significant contributions to the field of calixarenes. Calixarenes are synthetic macrocycles. They are a particular type of cavitand, a molecule that can hold smaller molecules through non-covalent bonding.  The C. David Gutsche Award was named after C. David Gutsche, one of the pioneers in this area. Past recipients of the award are Rocco Ungaro (Università di Parma, 2015), Prof. David Reinhoudt (University of Twente, 2017), and Prof. Jonathan L. Sessler (University of Texas at Austin, 2019).