Dennis Hall was born in Baie-Comeau, Province of Québec (Canada) in 1968. In 1991, he enrolled in graduate studies under the guidance of Prof. Pierre Deslongchamps at Université de Sherbrooke. His graduate research involved new synthetic methods and strategies applicable to natural product synthesis. His work culminated on the development of a new tandem transannular [4+2]/aldol approach to diterpenes such as aphidicolin, and on new findings on the mechanism of the Diels-Alder reaction.
After obtaining his Ph.D. degree in 1995, Dennis moved on to explore new areas of investigation such as bioorganic chemistry and combinatorial chemistry, working as an NSERC Postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Peter G. Schultz, then at the Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley. In his postdoctoral stay, from 1995-97, he was involved in various projects and learned to apply his knowledge of organic synthesis to problems in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry.
In August 1997, Dennis returned to Canada to take an academic position in the Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta. He was promoted to Professor in 2005, and to University Professor in 2008. In his little spare time, he likes to exercise, ski, read, and spend time with his wife and three daughters.
To learn more about Dennis, see his author profile in ACIE.
HONORS, AWARDS and NOMINATIONS (2005-present)
- Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award 2024, American Chemical Society
- R. U. Lemieux Award for Organic Chemistry 2021, Canadian Society for Chemistry
- Killam Research Fellowship, Canada Council for the Arts (2019-2021)
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) (2017)
- Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Boron Chemistry for Catalysis and Drug Discovery (2015-2022)
- Alfred Bader Award for Organic Chemistry 2016, Canadian Society for Chemistry
- Journal of Organic Chemistry Outstanding Author of the Year Award, 2013 (ACS Organic Division)
- Killam Professor, University of Alberta (2013-2014)
- Named to the Editorial Board, Organic Reactions (2013-)
- NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award (2012-2014)
- Named to the Editorial Advisory Board, European Journal of Organic Chemistry (2011-)
- Royal Society of Canada Rutherford Memorial Medal in Chemistry 2009
- Rutherford Teaching Award 2009, University of Alberta
- Steacie Prize in Natural Sciences 2008 (National Research Council of Canada)
- NSERC E. W. R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship 2008
- Merck-Frosst Award for Organic/Bioorganic Chemistry 2008, Canadian Society for Chemistry
- Named University Professor, 2008 (highest academic title at the UAlberta)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship (short-term, 2007)
- Faculty of Science Award for Excellent Teaching, 2007
- Humboldt Research Fellowship (2006, MPI-Dortmund, Germany)
- Faculty of Science Research Award 2005
- Martha Cook Piper Research Prize 2004 (University of Alberta)
EDUCATION and RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
University of California, Berkeley
07/1995-07/1997
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry.
Research director: Prof. Peter G. Schultz.
Université de Sherbrooke
01/1991-06/1995
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, Département de chimie
Thesis director: Prof. Pierre Deslongchamps.
RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS (Non-independent)
12) Y.L. Dory, D.G. Hall, and P. Deslongchamps; On the Mechanism of the Diels-Alder Reaction of Enal Dienophiles. Competitive Reactivity and Ab initio Calculations Using a Transannular Probe; Tetrahedron, 1998, 54, 12279-12288.
11) D.G. Hall and P. G. Schultz; Synthesis of Diverse Ethoxyformacetal Oligomers. Toward Libraries of Metal-Coordinating Unnatural Biopolymers; Tetrahedron Letters, 1997, 38, 7825-7829.
10) M. Drouin, D.G. Hall, A.-S. Caillé; Crystal structure of a 5-formyl-(4E,11Z,13E)-cyclopentadeca-4,11,13-triene and a derivative of its unique trans-syn-cis [6.6.7] tricyclic product from a transannular Diels-Alder contraction; Submitted to Acta Crystallographica C (09/1996).
9) D.G. Hall and P. Deslongchamps; Transannular Diels-Alder / Aldol Tandem Reaction as a Route to (+)-Aphidicolin and its Isosteric C8-Epimer; Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1995, 7796-7814.
8) D.G. Hall, R. Müller, and P. Deslongchamps; Studies on the Transannular Diels-Alder Reaction of 15-Membered Macrocyclic Trienes Containing a Trans-Trans Diene. PART II: Evidence for Unsymmetrical Transition States in the Formation of A.B.C [6.6.7] Tricyclic Products; Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 1995, 1695-1710.
7) D.G. Hall, R. Müller, and P. Deslongchamps; Studies on the Transannular Diels-Alder Reaction of 15-Membered Macrocyclic Trienes Containing a Trans-Trans Diene. PART I: Synthesis and Isomerization of Various Model Cyclopentadecatrienes; Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 1995, 1675-1694.
6) D.G. Hall, A.-S. Caillé, M. Drouin, S. Lamothe, R. Müller, and P. Deslongchamps; A Stereospecific Transannular Diels-Alder Approach to the [6.6.7] Tricyclic Skeleton Related to Aphidicolin and Scopadulan Natural Products; Synthesis, 1995, 1081-1087.
5) D.G. Hall, D. Chapdelaine, P. Préville, and P. Deslongchamps; Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Acyclic Tri- and Tetra-C-Substituted -Alkoxymethyl-Unsaturated Esters; Synlett, 1994, 660-662.
4) A.G. Michel, D.G. Hall, and M. Drouin; Functionalized Hydrocarbons with a Condensed Ring Skeleton. XV. A (methoxymethoxymethyl)tricyclo-[9.4.0.02,8]-pentadec-9-ene; Acta Crystallographica C 1993, C49, 1830-1833. Correction: Acta Crystallographica C 1995, C51, 340.
3) D.G. Hall, R. Müller, and P. Deslongchamps; Transannular Diels-Alder Reaction of Trans-Trans-Cis 15-Membered Macrocyclic Trienes. Evidence for Asynchronous Transition State; Tetrahedron Letters, 1992, 33, 5221-5224.
2) D.G. Hall, R. Müller, and P. Deslongchamps; Transannular Diels-Alder Reaction of Trans-Trans-Trans 15-Membered Macrocyclic Trienes; Tetrahedron Letters 1992, 33, 5217-5220.
1) Y. Guindon, J.-F. Lavallée, L. Boisvert, C. Chabot, D. Delorme, C. Yoakim, D. Hall, R. Lemieux, and B. Simoneau; Stereoselective Radical-Mediated Reduction and Alkylation of Alpha-Halo Esters; Tetrahedron Letters, 1991, 32, 27-30.
