Memorial Symposium for Prof Istvan Marko

On 12 and 13 September 2019 RSC Belgium was proud to sponsor a memorial symposium for our good friend and supporter Professor Istvan Marko at the Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Louvain-La-Neuve. Presentations at the symposium entitled 'Organic Chemistry and The Synthesis of Complex Molecules - A tribute to István Marko' featured contributions from Istvan's many friends and colleagues including two Nobel Prize winners. It was followed by a reception and a dinner on Friday evening.

Istvan E Marko was born in Hungary in 1956 but his family fled the Soviet invasion of that year and settled in Belgium. After schooling in Wavre, István studied for a Licence en Sciences Chimiques at UCLouvain (Belgium) from 1974 to 1978 and then obtained his PhD in 1983 under the supervision of Professor L. Ghosez on the 'Semi-synthesis of Tricyclic Penicillins'. Between 1983 and 1985 he undertook postdoctoral studies in Ghosez's group on Intramolecular Keteniminium Cycloadditions: A New Route Towards Prostaglandins.

Then between 1985 and 1987, he moved to Burlington (University of Vermont, Vermont, USA), working in the group of Professor M.E Kuehne ("Biomimetic Total Synthesis of Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids and Binary Vinca Alkaloids") before joining in 1987 the research group of professor Barry Sharpless (MIT, Massachusetts, USA) working on the Catalytic Asymmetric Osmylation of Olefins. Barry Sharpless later won the 2001 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on Olefins and sent a video contribution to the symposium. Istvan also collaborated with 2016 Nobel Prize winner Ben Feringa who gave an outstanding presentation at the symposium (See photo below).

In 1988, Istvan decided to move back to Europe to take up a lecturer position in the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom), where he stayed for 5 years. In 1993 he had the opportunity to come back to his alma mater, where  he was in charge of the Laboratoire de Chimie Organique et Médicinale for 24 years until his untimely death in 2017.

As a professor, Istvan gave courses to bachelor's and master's students of chemistry and bio-engineering (Organic chemistry, Medicinal chemistry, Applied organic chemistry, Biosynthesis and total synthesis of natural products and Industrial chemistry…).

The main research areas in his laboratory included: Short, efficient and stereocontrolled total synthesis of natural products; Extraction, purification and structure identification of novel natural products; Development of new methodologies based on multiple bonds and ring formation; Asymmetric catalysis with and without metals; New organometallic reagents; Anionic polycyclisation reactions; Electroorganic synthesis; Development of ecological processes; Botanochemistry; Use of enzymes and microorganisms in organic chemistry; and Use of CO2 as a basic 1- carbon unit.

In the course of his career, Professor Markó supervised 39 post-docs, 66 PhD students, 92 master's students and 58 bachelor's students.

In January 1995, a group of young chemists including István Markó, launched the European Chemical Society (ECS), which at its inception, anticipated working together with the existing national chemical societies to promote chemistry at the European level. 

He was the author of over 250 publications, more than 200 of them in refereed journals, 19 patents and 16 reviews for books, as well as 38 articles in Belgian newspapers on "Chemistry in our Society". He delivered more than 20 general public lectures on "the key-role of chemistry in our modern society" and gave more than 350 conferences worldwide.

István regularly took part in television broadcasts (RTBF and RTLtvi) to popularise science in order

to make it more accessible, notably in collaboration with RSC Belgium, in order to encourage younger pupils to get excited about science, and in particular Chemistry. He was particularly active, together with his faithful technician Fabio Lucaccioni, in performing chemistry shows for schools.

Professor Marko was able to generate the desire to do chemistry among many students, even those outside of organic chemistry. We are proud to salute a truly great Scientist, Professor, Mentor and Friend! Thank you Istvan!

You can access Istvan's full biography here and download a commemorative booklet produced for the symposium here.

Iron Man

On the evening of 18 November 2016 RSC Belgium members and friends enjoyed a 'A Journey through the World of Iron' with our recent past Chairman Prof Bob Crichton. This special public lecture was part of a two-day symposium on the role of iron in biochemical and biomedical environments organised to celebrate Prof Crichton's significant contributions to this field. The lecture was followed by a RSC Belgium sponsored reception in Bob's honour.

The venue for our sponsored lecture was Theatre Lavo 51 in the Lavoisier Building at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve and celebrated 50 years of research into the biochemistry and metabolism of metalloproteins and also marked the 75th birthday of the speaker, UCLouvain's Emeritus Professor, and ex-RSC Belgium Chairman, Robert R. Crichton (below).

During the Symposium, world experts in the biochemistry and metabolism of metalloproteins, especially iron-containing proteins, delivered keynote lectures on their most recent achievements in this area. The lectures presented biochemical studies of iron metabolism, novel therapeutic opportunities and diagnostics, the search for new metal chelators and their crucial importance, together with the results of worldwide research on inflammation and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Metalloproteins, especially iron-containing proteins, play a crucial role in numerous diseases, including cancer.

Celebration
The symposium and public lecture enabled us to celebrate the achievements of Prof Bob Crichton who was appointed as a professor of biochemistry at the Université catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve in 1973 and introduced biochemistry as an mandatory part of the teaching of all chemists at the university. Bob's achievements in the biochemistry of iron proteins have been recognised at international level and he is worldwide leading figure in this important area of science.

After the public lecture an excellent reception was held including a special cake to celebrate Bob's birthday. Bob's long-time colleague at UCLouvain, Prof Istvan Marko, spoke very warmly of Bob's achievements to much applause.