Chemistry thesis “reads like an adventure novel”.
8 October 2023
The annual KNCV Golden Master Award honours the best chemistry Master’s research performed at a Dutch university. Cornelissen completed his Master's project at the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences under the supervision of Francesco Mutti (Biocatalysis) and Jan van Maarseveen (Synthetic Organic Chemistry). According to the jury for the award, Cornelissen wrote "a truly engaging master thesis" on research performed at an "impressive level". They noted that it was a pleasure to read the thesis; one of the jury members even pointed out that “it reads like an adventure novel”.
In his thesis "Incorporation of Directional and Quinone-Functionalized Macrocycles in Covalently Synthesized Rotaxanes", Cornelissen presents two new methods for the synthesis of interlocked molecules. These can function as electron carriers and possess a unique type of asymmetry that also occurs in natural interlocked compounds. For his work, Cornelissen was already awarded a Unilever Research Prize 2022 and the University of Amsterdam thesis prize.
Cornelissen is currently a PhD in the group of Röderich Süßmuth at TU Berlin, where he works on the total synthesis of natural compounds.