Mitsuo Sawamoto

He is co-recipient of the Franklin Institute Award in Chemistry in 2017 with Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, for their independent discover of Atom-transfer radical-polymerization (ATRP).

A decade later, he moved to the Graduate School of Engineering of Kyoto University, where he was a professor of polymer chemistry.

[1] Sawamoto discovered the world's first living cationic polymerization and developed numerous initiator systems (Macromolecules, 1984; Progress in Polymer Science, 1991).

In addition, he realized the world's first living free-radical polymerization by a metal complex and developed numerous initiator systems (Macromolecules, 1995; Chemical Reviews, 2001).

Sawamoto was given a quote in March 2011: Miraculous, ingenious, creative but sincere:This is catalytic science research is all about.