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Biography

Neil Garg FRSC is the Distinguished Kenneth N. Trueblood Professor of 深夜福利国产精品 at UCLA. He is a world-renowned organic chemist and educator. His laboratory has made breakthrough discoveries in 鈥榬ule-breaking鈥� chemical reactions, defying over 100 years of conventional thinking and establishing practical chemistry that is used in both academia and industry. 

Some of his lab's innovations include the discovery of nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of amides and the generation and trapping of unconventional strained intermediates, such as cyclic allenes and anti-Bredt olefins. 

Neil is also one of the world鈥檚 leading STEM educators, having shattered the long-standing negative reputation of organic chemistry by making organic chemistry understandable 鈥� and even fun 鈥� for students and the public alike.

Like all relationships, mentor-mentee relationships take time and effort, and I always like to encourage students to put in that effort and build strong relationships.

Neil Garg

Q&A

Can you tell us more about your work?

My expertise is in organic chemistry, or the chemistry of carbon-based molecules. My specialty is in chemical synthesis and physical organic chemistry, meaning I enjoy making molecules, discovering new chemical reactions, and deepening our understanding of how and why chemicals react. The Centenary Prize is recognising some of the newest chemistry from my lab, where we have overcome conventional rules of structure, bonding, and reactivity in chemical synthesis. 
 
The fundamentals of structure, bonding, and reactivity in chemistry are essential because they provide a coherent, predictive framework for understanding how matter behaves. Such rules enable students and scientists to anticipate how atoms will bond, predict reaction outcomes, communicate using a shared language, and, ultimately, design molecules with specific functions. At the same time, challenging, refining or overturning these rules is how science evolves. 
 
We recently overturned longstanding dogma by synthesizing and trapping many molecules thought to be forbidden by Bredt鈥檚 Rule. This is a classic organic chemistry rule from 1924 that states that molecules with a carbon-carbon double bond at a so-called bridgehead position of a polycyclic molecule can never be formed. We nevertheless discovered a way to synthesize a number of these anti-Bredt olefins. While several previous studies gave some evidence for anti-Bredt olefins, no one had figured out how to make these unusual species for general use in chemical synthesis. Before our work, textbooks and online resources have long maintained that anti-Bredt olefins are 鈥渇orbidden鈥� or 鈥渋mpossible鈥� compounds to access. The study was reported in the journal Science in 2024 (Science 2024, eadq3519).
 
We have explored many other unconventional strained molecules too, contorting not just double bonds in anti-Bredt olefins, but other arrangements of atoms such as triple bonds and cumulenes, which have two or three double bonds (Nature 2020, 242; Science 2023, 261; Nature 2023, 748; Nature 2025, 683). 
 
Our rule-breaking reactions are exciting due to their fundamental nature, but they are also used in real-world applications too. Our strained intermediate chemistry is now used industrially, especially in pharmaceutical synthesis, agrochemistry, and materials chemistry. The strained intermediate chemistry provides versatile tools to discover new structures and access chemical space that has not been realized over the last century.

Thinking back to earlier in your career, are there any words of wisdom that you wish someone had told you? 

I always gravitated toward strong mentors who supported me, but also pushed me out of my comfort zone. However, I could have benefitted even more if someone had told me how important it was to build mentorship relationships early on. Like all relationships, mentor-mentee relationships take time and effort, and I always like to encourage students to put in that effort and build strong relationships. I am still very close to my formal research mentors, Professor Marc Walters (NYU), Brian Stoltz (Caltech), and Larry Overman (UCI). All of them, along with many friends and colleagues, have been my support system for decades now.

What do you wish more people understood about your field or the chemical sciences in general? 

I wish more people 鈥� children and adults alike 鈥� knew what organic chemistry is and why it is awesome. The subject has traditionally been viewed as a challenging class, but I鈥檇 love for people, including students, to see it as an elegant, though-provoking subject, with profound impact on humanity.

How important would you say collaboration is for producing high-quality science? How has collaboration influenced your work? 

Collaboration has been essential to my research success. I am particularly indebted to Professor Ken Houk, my esteemed colleague and mentor at UCLA. He brought me into the world of physical organic chemistry and his insight has profoundly impacted my research programme. 

What is your favourite element and why? 

Hands down, my favourite element is nitrogen. When I started graduate school, my PhD advisor, Professor Brian Stoltz, told me each nitrogen in my natural product target could add a year to my time in graduate school. It made me laugh and I've loved nitrogen-containing molecules ever since!