AsiaChem | Chemistry in Japan | December 2021 Volume 2 Issue 1

94 | December 2021 www.facs.website Therefore, I am not satisfied with the current discipline-based academic system, which I see as a global problem of our time. Our young chemists should radically change their mindset through exposure to other scientific disciplines. In my view, the origin of creativity is highly complex, and discovery, by definition, is difficult to design. Historically, many discoveries came from serendipity and luck. As only a few researchers are outstanding geniuses, there is a need for systematic laboratory work applicable in most fields. Therefore, we must prepare a research environment or ecosystem that will encourage cooperation rather than harsh competition, thereby fostering collective knowledge. The current digital revolution is accelerating this trend. The key to promoting Asian science is to guide our youth toward enhanced collaboration. By nature, Japanese people are very collaborative, but we are affected by the competitiveness we imported from the Western culture. Did you try to promote science in your country and the world? Yes, I am trying to do so. Science is a universal endeavor, but scientists cannot walk alone. Individual knowledge is inseparable from the combined knowledge of all humanity. So, we must encourage multi-disciplinary collaboration to create a peaceful, pleasant world. Moreover, to promote science, we should convince the public that science is highly beneficial, particularly chemistry and its applications. We must explain what we are doing because the tax-payer money supports our endeavor. Also, we need to explain what we know and what we don’t know yet so that everybody has equal expectations. Our intellectual endeavor cannot be categorized. Science pursues the truth of Nature through exploring the unknown, leading to “discovery,” whereas “invention” occurs when technology tries to overcome seemingly impossible goals. Both scientific and technological activities take place within the context of society. Today, science-based technology enriches our lives, contributes to our nation’s security and peaceful sovereignty, and sustains human civilization. Consequently, we must recruit the best minds worldwide to foster scientific and technological development with diverse leadership. Governments of many countries promote science, technology, and innovation (STI) as a source of the nations’ competitiveness, public health, welfare, and the mitigation of natural and unnatural disasters. I would say that innovation is not a mere technological invention but is also the creation of economic or other societal values. Therefore, governments must consistently promote both basic and applied science. Most innovations originate frombasic research and significant collaborative efforts. And meeting global and national challenges requires trusted and fruitful conjunction between the research community and other sectors. Without ST-based innovations, we could not have realized the affluent, civilized societies we live in today. Thus, STI is strongly linked with social views and values and is affected by religion, ethics, historical and philosophical aspects, politics, economy, etc. So, to enhance STI, science cannot stand alone but must be adequately merged with national or regional cultural heritage. I would also like to acknowledge industrial collaboration, for it is the industry that eventually transforms our basic knowledge into the social benefit. In this regard, I respect Israel as a leading nation of innovation. The benefits of modern science-based technology are evident from the enhanced food security worldwide, increased life expectancy from 45 to 80 years in just one century, external expansion of human physical abilities, improved quality of Life, and high-speed communication, to name a few. Now we are fast-forwarding to an age of networked society that we have never experienced before, entering soon into an era of super-intelligence. We should be proud of being chemists because chemistry-based materials are everywhere in this modernized society. We have long contributed to, among others, the improvement of health care with the aid of pharmaceutical innovations based on synthetic chemical substances. The contribution of chemistry to STI has already been enormous, but our community must further develop toward creating a peaceful, pleasant world. For instance, synthetic chemists must pursue artificial photosynthesis and element strategy to overcome the resource problem. Here again, intensive interdisciplinary collaboration is needed. We must protect the environment. I have been walking on an avenue of chemical research for over six decades. I have educated chemistry in Kyoto since 1957 and later in Nagoya since 1968. In 2003, I was appointed President of RIKEN, the flagship research institution in Japan, before assuming, six years ago, the current position, Director-General of CRDS (Center of Research and Development Strategy) of JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency). Our institution aims to navigate science and technology policy in our country. Responding to your comments, did you try to make the world a better place? Obviously, “Making the world a better place” is a gigantic goal. However, as a tiny individual chemist, I could have contributed a little toward this direction. And I would ask the young readers of this interview, “Where are you now? Where are you going from here? Is your destiny Utopia or Dystopia?” Seniors like me are afraid that the combined effects of various complicated social issues since the Industrial Revolution have brought modern civilization to a severe crisis. And it is our responsibility and partly that of the younger generation. motivated by such concerns, the United Nations general assembly in 2015 passed a resolution titled, “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The leading slogan is: “No one should be left behind.” They defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that rely on the advancement of science and technology. All Asian countries, together with others, must play an active role in striving for these SDGs. We cannot remain passive but must consider this an opportunity for new development and progress. If we do not change our focus now, there can be no tomorrow. Every one of the SDGs represents a mammoth objective that is impossible for any individual researcher to attain alone. Frankly, we did not have the required foresight in our university days, and very few of us seriously considered these problems. I believe that our chemistry science goes beyond mere observation and understanding of Nature. Our science can generate very high values from almost nothing. Synthetic substances and materials determine the quality of our Life. And catalysis is fundamental because it is the only rational, general means to produce essential compounds in a cost-effective, energy-saving, and environmentally benign manner. More than 25 years ago, as a senior chemist, I took the initiative to promote Green Chemistry, which now corresponds to SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production). As an essential aspect of Green Chemistry, we sought catalysis in a safe and harmless medium. We pioneered supercritical CO2 as a medium for catalytic reactions with the beneficial effects of both liquid and gas phases. It is a non-toxic, non-flammable, and very cheap solvent. We can remove it from the reaction mixture without leaving harmful residue. Today, Green Chemistry is an essential component of chemical manufacturing, and it is our responsibility to reduce the amount of undesired waste. In a step-by-step synthesis of any target molecule, each step should proceed with high “atom economy” or “atom efficiency” without leaving hazardous waste. We have developed a clean oxidation reaction using aqueous H2O2 with a tungsten catalyst under organic solvent-free conditions, producing water as the only byproduct. Regarding reduction, catalytic hydrogenation is the ultimate Green Chemistry. We have successfully replaced the most environmentally unfriendly reduction methods with clean catalytic hydrogenation with 100% atom efficiency. Asymmetric hydrogenation is essential because our Life depends on enantiomerically pure chiral molecules. Our

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