Tsutomu Katsuki (September 23, 1946 – October 13, 2014) was an organic chemist who primarily focused on asymmetric oxidation reactions utilizing transition metal catalysts.
[1][2] Katsuki performed doctoral studies in the lab of Masaru Yamaguchi, contributing to the development of the Yamaguchi esterification.
[3] As a postdoctoral research associate with Professor Karl Barry Sharpless at Stanford University, he performed the first Sharpless epoxidation reaction.
[4] This reaction would eventually be acknowledged with the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (Sharpless).