Prof. Dr. Sambasivarao Kotha, FNASc, FASc, FRSC, FNA

Professor, Department of Chemistry

Education/Professional Qualifications

Degree	Subject	Class	Year	University
B. Sc.	Chem, Phy, & Math	First	1977	Nagarjuna University, Guntur
M. Sc.	Chemistry	First	1979	University of Hyderabad
Ph. D.	Chemistry		1985	University of Hyderabad

 

Positions held earlier (in chronological order)

	Period		Place of Employment	Designation
	From	To
1	Feb 2001	Dec 2023	IIT Bombay	Professor
2	Sept 19, 2011	Sept 18, 2020	IIT Bombay	P. C. Chair Professor
3	July 1997	Feb 2001	IIT Bombay	Associate Professor
4	Jan 1994	July 1997	IIT Bombay	Assistant Professor
5	Jan 1992	Dec 1993	Hoechst, TX	Research Chemist II
6	Jan 1990	Dec 1991	Cornell Uni. NY	Visiting Scientist
7	April 1987	Dec1989	Wisconsin Uni.WI	Research Associate
8	April 1986	April 1987	UMIST Manchester, UK	Research Associate

 

Publications   360 (H-index 60) 10120 Citations

Research Interests:Organic Synthesis-New Synthetic Methods: Unusual amino acids, Peptide Modification, Suzuki cross-coupling, Metathesis, [2+2+2] cycloaddition, Chemistry of benzocyclobuetene, and theoretically interesting molecules.

 

Experience:    42 years of research experience, 2 years of industrial experience

32 years of teaching experience, Consultant to Dr. Reddy’s (process research, 2006-07).

Ph. D. work with Prof. G. Mehta-Chemistry of caged molecules

UMIST work with Prof. R. Stoodley-Synthesis of anthracyclines

Wisconsin work with Prof. J. Cook-Synthesis of polyquinanes

Cornell work with Prof. A. Kuki-Synthesis of Aib rich peptides

Hoechst work-Bulk drugs, Asymmetric synthesis, NSAID. 

 

 Prof. Kotha’s 20 best publications

 

20. S. Kotha, M. Meshram, V. R. Aswar

            Application of ring-rearrangement metathesis in organic synthesis: A grand design

            Tetrahedron Lett. Digest, 60, 151337, 2019 

19. S. Kotha, M. Meshram

          Development of new synthetic strategies, tactics and their applications.

            Chemical Record, 19, 2480, 2019

18. S. Kotha, M. Meshram, N. R. Panguluri, V. Shah, T. Saidulu, M. E. Shirbhate

      Synthetic approaches to star-shaped molecules with 1,3,5-trisubstituted aromatic cores

       Chem. Asian J., 14, 1356, 2019. (Mini Review, 30% work is our own)

17. S Kotha, M. Meshram, N. R. Panguluri

      Advanced approaches to post-assembly modification of peptides by transition-metal-catalyzed reactions

       Synthesis 51, 1913, 2019. (Short Review, Account)

16. S. Kotha, P. Khedkar, Y. Dommaraju

            Synthetic application of rongalite: A green tool in the service of Diels−Alder chemistry and beyond

            Tetrahedron Lett. Digest 60, 631, 2019 (Personal account)           

15. S. Kotha, M. Meshram, Y. Dommaraju

            Design and synthesis of polycycles, heterocycles and macrocycles via strategic utilization of ring-closing metathesis.

         Chemical Record, 18, 1613, 2018.  (Account of our work)

14. S. Kotha, K. Lahiri, G. Sreevani

            Design and synthesis of aromatics through [2+2+2] cyclotrimerization.

            Synlett 29, 2342, 2018. (Account of our work)

13. S. Kotha, M. Meshram, Ch. Chandravathi

        Synergistic approach to polycycles through Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and metathesis as key steps.

            Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 14, 2468, 2018. (Account of our work)   

12. S. Kotha, M. Meshram

            Application of organometallics in organic synthesis

 

11. S. Kotha, M. Meshram

            Application of Claisen rearrangement and olefin metathesis in organic synthesis

            Chem. Asian J., 13, 1758, 2018. (Focus Review, Personal account)

10. S. Kotha, N. R. Panguluri, R. Ali

            Design and synthesis of spriocycles   

            Eur. J. Org. Chem., 5316, 2017. (Micro Review, Account of our work)

9. S. Kotha, Ch. Chandravathi

            Application of Fischer indolization under green conditions using deep eutectic solvents.        

            Chemical Record. 17, 1039, 2017. (Account of our work)

8. j. Kotha, V. R. Aswar

         Target specific tactics in olefin metathesis. Synthetic apparoch to cis-syn-cis triquinanes and propellanes.                           

            Org. Lett. 18, 1808, 2016. (Research Paper)

7. S. Kotha, D. Goyal, A. S. Chavan

       Diversity oriented approaches to unusual α-amino acids and peptides: step economy, atom economy, redox economy and beyond.

       J. Org. Chem. (Perspective), 78, 12288, 2013 (Account of our work)     

 

6. S. Kotha, S. Halder

        Ethyl isocyanoacetate as useful glycine equivalent

            Synlett 337, 2010. (Account of our work)

5. S. Kotha, M. Meshram, A. Tiwari

       Advanced approach to polycyclics by a synergistic combination of enyne Metathesis and Diels-Alder reaction

       Chem. Soc. Rev. 38, 2065, 2009. (Critical Review, include our own work also)

4. S. Kotha, K. Lahiri

       Expanding the diversity of polycyclic aromatics through a Suzuki‒Miyaura cross-coupling strategy.

       Eur. J. Org. Chem. 1221, 2007. (Micro Review, Account of our work)

 

3. S. Kotha, S. Banerjee, M. P. Patil, R. B. Sunoj

            Retro Diels‒Alder reaction under mild conditions: experimental and theoretical studies.

            Org. Biomol. Chem. 4, 1854, 2006.   (Research Communication)

2. S. Kotha

       The building block approach to unusual a-amino acid derivatives and peptides.

       Acc. Chem. Res. 36, 342, 2003. (Account of our work)     

1. S. Kotha, N. Sreenivasachary

         A new synthetic approach to 1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydroisquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (Tic) derivatives via enyne metathesis and the Diels–Alder                     reaction. 

       Chem. Commun. 503, 2000.  (Research Communication)

 

Awards/Special recognitions

Sr. No.	Name of the Awards	Awarding agency	Year
1	B. M. Birla Science Prize in Chemistry	Birla Centre, Hyderabad	1996
2	N. S. Narasimhan Endowment Award	Pune University	2000
3	Bronze Medal, CRSI	CRSI, Bangalore	2004
4	IIT-Bombay Best Research Paper Award	IIT Bombay	2004
5	IIT-Bombay Best Review Paper Award	IIT Bombay	2005
6	Bhagyatara National Award	Punjab University	2005
7	Innocentive Champion Award	Innocentive company	2005
8	Indian J. Chem.(B)-Editorial board member, 2005-2014	CSIR	2005
9	Fellow of National Academy of Sciences	NASI	2006
10	Nature publishing travel award	Nature Journal	2007
11	S.C. Bhattacharya Award-Research Excellence-Sciences	IIT Bombay	2008
12	J. Chem. Sciences- Editorial board member, 2009-2011	IASc	2009
13	J. Amino Acids- Editorial board member, 2009-2017	Hindawi	2009
14	Open Catalysis Journal -Editorial board member, 2009-2015	Bentham Open	2009
15	J. C. Bose Fellowship	DST	2010
16	Prof. Y. T. Thathachari National Award	Bhramara Trust-Mysore	2010
17	Shri. G.D. Gokhale Endowment Lectureship	ICT Mumbai	2010
18	IIT-Bombay best review paper award	IIT Bombay	2010
19	Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences	IASc	2010
20	Pramod Chaudhari Chair-Green Chem. & Ind.Biotech.	IIT Bombay	2011
21	IIT-Bombay Best Review Paper Award	IIT Bombay	2011
22	Fellow-Royal Society of Chemistry	RSC London	2012
23	Maharashtra Academy of Sciences-Fellowship	MASc	2012
24	Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences-Fellowship	APASc	2012
25	Costal Chemical Research Society-Award	CCRS	2013
26	Eur. J. Org. Chem.-Intl Advisory Board Member 2014-16	European Journals	2014
27	Prof. W. U. Mallik Memorial Award	Indian council of chemists	2014
28	Prof. B. D. Tilak Endowement Lectureship	ICT Mumbai	2015
29	Prof. Sethna Memorial Lecture Award (2016-17)	MS University Baroda	2016
30	Fellow-Indian National Science Academy	INSA	2017
31	IIT Bombay Research Dissemination Award 2016	IIT-Bombay	2017
32	Distinguished Alumius Lecture Award	University of Hyderabad	2018
33	Golden Jubilee Distinguished Alumius	SVRM College	2019
34	Dr. D. S. Bhakuni Award	Indian Chemical Society	2020
35	Dr. S.K. Pradhan Endowment	ICT, Mumbai	2021
36	Editorial Board Member	Ind. J. Chem	2022

 

 

Details of CSIR Fellowship / Associateship held, if any or from other sources/agencies.

S. No.	Period		Name of the Institution	Designation	Fellowship Amount
	From	To
1	Jan 1980	Dec 1981	University of Hyderabad	JRF	400 Rs
2	Jan 1982	Dec 1985	University of Hyderabad	SRF	600 Rs

 

Impact of Prof. S. Kotha’s publications

During the last Twenty-one consecutive years (2003-2023) our articles are placed among the

most cited/most downloaded/ category. The details are given below

• 2003–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633–3^rdMost requested article in CAS spotlight.
• 2004–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633–5^thMost requested article in CAS spotlight.
• 2004–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633–Placed among the hot papers in Chemistry.
• 2004–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633–Web of Science classifies as one of the most influential articles
• 2005– J. Org. Chem. 2005, 4741–Among EJOC top ten downloaded articles – Nov. 2005.
• 2006– Biomol. Chem. 2006, 1854–Among OBC top ten accessed articles - May 2006.
• 2006– Eur. J. 2006, 8024–Article has been highlighted in CEJ issue No: 31 pp: 7955.
• 2007– J. Org. Chem. 2007, 1221–Among most accessed articles in EJOC during 2007.
• 2007–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633–Placed among highly cited articles by Web of Science.
• 2008– J. Org. Chem. 2005, 4741–Among most cited articles in EJOC during 2005-06.
• 2008–Tetrahedron 2002, 9633 Among 50 Highly cited papers -Science & Technology report.
• 2009- J. Org. Chem. 2007, 5909 Highlighted in Chemtracts 2009, 203.
• 2009- Synlett 2005, 1877 highlighted in Chemtracts 2009, 167.
• 2010-Synthesis 2009, 165: 1 most-downloaded articles in Synthesis, Jan-Nov 2009.
• 2010-Indian J. Chem.(B) 2001, 763 No: 1 among the most cited articles in IJC (2001-10)
• 2011-Org. Biomol. Chem. 2011, 5597 Among top ten most accessed articles in July -Aug. 2011.         
• 2012- Tetrahedron 2002, 9633 Among top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron) Oct-Dec. 2011.     
• 2012- Tetrahedron 2012, 397 - Among top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron) Oct-Dec. 2011.
• 2012- Analyst 2012, 2871 Among top 10 downloaded articles (Analyst) June 2012.
• 2013- Tetrahedron 2002, 9633 Among top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron) Jan-Dec. 2012.
• 2013- Synlett 2013, 1921 highlighted in Synfacts 2013, 9(11), 1172.
• 2014- Tetrahedron 2002, 9633 Among top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron) Jan-Dec. 2013.
• 2014- Tetrahedron 2014, 5361 Among the top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron) 2014.
• 2015-Tetrahedron 2002, 9633Among top 25 downloaded articles (Tetrahedron). 2014
• 2015- Beliestein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 1274 most-downloaded articles (BJOC) August, 2015.
• 2015- Beliestein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 1259 most-downloaded articles (BJOC) August, 2015.
• 2015- Beliestein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 1503 most-downloaded articles (BJOC) August, 2015.
• 2015- Beliestein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 1514 most-downloaded articles (BJOC) August, 2015.
• 2015- ACS Comb. Sci., 2015, 17, 253 most-downloaded articles.
• 2016- ACS Comb. Sci., 2015, 17, 253 most accessed articles 2016.
• 2017- Beliestein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 1259 most-downloaded articles (BJOC) August, 2015
• 2017– J. Org. Chem. 2017, 5316–most accessed articles in (EJOC) during 2017
• 2018- Synthesis, 2017, 49, 5339, highlighted in Synfacts 2018, 14(03), 0247
• 2018- Organomet. Chem., 874, 13 most-downloaded articles (JOMC) during 2018
• 2019– J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 371–most accessed articles in (BJOC) during 2019
• 2020- Synlett, 2018, 29, 2342- most cited articles from India during 2018-20
• 2021- Synthesis, 2019, 51, 3981- most cited articles from India during 2018-20
• 2021-(Nov 2021), Based on No. of publications, (SciFinder), Kotha’s rank in Metathesis- 9.
• 2021-(Nov 2021), Based on No. of publications (SciFinder), Kotha’s rank in Suzuki Coupling- 9.
• 2022- Asian J., 2021, 16, 3649, highlighted in Synfacts 2022, 18(01), 0106
• 2022-(Sept 2022) Prof. Kotha was listed amongst top 2% scientist in india 2021
• 2023-Asian J. Org. Chem. 2021, 10, 3166 - Top downloaded articles in Wiley
• 2023-ChemistrySelect 2021, 6, 11178 - Top downloaded articles in Wiley

 

 

IIT Bombay (Administration experience-committee work/other activities)

• Member of departmental annual progress committee 1994-1997, 1999
• Secretary to departmental under graduate committee 1997-2000
• Coordinator M.Sc. entrance examination 1999-2000
• Member of Ph. D. selection committee 1994-95, 19997-98
• Member for setting M.Sc. entrance examination paper
• Departmental coordinator to various industrial R&D activities 1997-
• Member of research progress committee for several Ph. D. students
• Coordinator for NMR proposal, Member of DST organic synthesis center
• Coordinator for DST NMR proposal, (x) Participated in JE paper correction, JE conducting
• Departmental safety in charge (1996- 2016)
• CEPs conducted at IIT-B
• One-day CEP course on "The Role of Organic Synthesis in Drug Research” (Oct. 19, 1996).
• Two-day CEP course on "The Role of Organic Synthesis in Drug Research” (April 20-21, 1999).
• Membership of Scientific bodies ACS, RSC, CRSI
• Departmental undergraduate committee 3 years
• Departmental Group convener (Organic chemistry)
• Departmental Policy Committee member 9 years
• Institute Safety committee member 3 years
• Senate Search Committee member 3 years
• IRCC awards committee member 1 year
• FIIST Departmental committee member
• Space committee member 2 years
• UGC SAP committee member for Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University.
• UGC Nominee for SAP Advisory committee member for Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
• CSIR Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar selection committee member (2016)
• Faculty Selection committee member for Kolhapur University, Telangana University, Pune University
• Faculty Selection committee member for NIT Warangal
• Faculty Selection committee member for ICT-Mumbai
• Faculty Selection committee member for BARC-Mumbai
• Ph. D Examiner-Several Ph. D (>100) PhD thesis
• M.Sc. Examiner-Several M.Sc. (~10) M.Sc. thesis
• Incharge of M.Sc. Entrance exam 2 years
• Resource person in the UGC sponsored Refresher Course in Chemistry for College, Shivaji University
• Appointed as a member of the panel of paper setters for SET Examination, Pune University
• M/s. Salvi Chemical Industries Ltd. Mumbai nomination of a senior expert, Tarapur
• NISCAIR Panel of Experts 2007- 2009
• Expert member of M/s. IPCA Laboratories Ltd.
• Selection Committee Meeting for Scientist Group IV CIMAP, Lucknow
• Expert member of Selection Committee for -Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata CSIR
• Expert member of IIPetroleum, Dehradun (CSIR), NCL Pune, CMCRL Bhavnagar
• Selection Committee Member, Various IIT’s (Gandhinagar, Delhi, Patna, Kharagpur, Jammu)
• Seminar Secretary
• Member CRSI National Symposium in Chemistry 2009, 2014
• Editorial Board Member
• Member of DSIR expert Committee (DST)
• Reviewer D S Kothari Post Doc Fellowship
• Referee for several national international journals
• Advisory board member several national and international conference
• Member of SAIF(RSIC) facility management Committee
• Faculty in charge – UG Lab and NMR facility
• Resource Person to the online refresher course in chemical sciences, UGC-HRDC, Osmania University Hyderabad, Jan, 24, 2022

 

Details of foreign visits

No	Period		Institute / country visited	Purpose of visit
1	Dec 1995	1 month	Uni.California, Chem. Dept. Santa Cruz	Visiting faculty
2	Dec 1997	1 month	Chem. Dept. - IUPUI-Indianapolis	Visiting Faculty
3	Apr 2000	1 month	Chem. Dept.- Fargo -NDSU	Visiting Faculty
4	21 July 2002	One week	Roger Williams Uni, US	ORP, GRC Conf.
5	28 July 2002	One week	Tilton School, US	NP, GRC Conf.
6	20 July 2003	One week	Selve Regina Uni. US	OM, GRC Conf.
7	25 July 2004	One week	Tilton School, US	NP, GRC Conf.
8	6 Oct 2004	4 days	CNRS lab, Gif Sur Yette, France	Indo/French meet
9	23 July 2006	One week	Tilton School, US	NP, GRC Conf.
10	8 Jan 2007	4 days	National Tsing Uni. Taiwan	Indo/Taiwan meet
11	15 July 2007	One week	Bryant Univ. US	ORP, GRC Conf.
12	22 July 2007	One week	Tilton School, US	NP, GRC Conf.
13	17 Dec 2007	4 days	NTU, Chem. Dept. Singapore	C&FC Conf.
14	13 July 2008	One week	Bryant Univ. US	ORP, GRC Conf.
15	20 July 2008	One wek	Tilton School, US	NP, GRC Conf.
16	Jan-Jun2009	6 months	NUS, Chem. Dept. Singapore	Visiting Faculty
17	16 Dec 2009	4 days	NUS, Chem. Dept, Singapore	SICC-6 Conf.
18	22 Jun 2010	4 days	Beijing University, China	Tetrahedron Symp
19	10 Jul 2011	5 days	Rennes, France	19th ISOM
20	10 June 2012	5 days	Uni.  KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	Collaboration visit
21	26 June 2012	4 days	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Tetrahedron Symp
22	3 March 2014	4 days	Uni. Florida, USA	FloHet-2014 Conf.
23	28 Oct 2015	4 days	Singapore	Tetrahedron Symp
24	11 Jul 2015	5 days	Graz, Austria	21st ISOM
25	9 Jul 2017	5 days	Zurich, Switzerland	22nd ISOM
26	24 Jul 2017	3 days	Melbourne, Australia	Tetrahedron Symp
27	18 Jun 2019	4 days	Bangkok, Thailand	Tetrahedron Symp
28	30 Jun 2019	5 days	Barcelona, Spain	23rd ISOM
29	19 Aug 2019	2 dyas	Kuala Lumpar	WCC

 

Details of Ph. D. students

No		Name/Roll No/ support		Title of the thesis	Joined on	Completed Ph. D. on
1		Mr. E. Brahmachary 94403304/IIT, CSIR		Development of new methodologies for the synthesis of conformationally constrained unusual a-amino acid derivatives	Jul 1994	Jan 2000
2		Mr. N. S. Chary 94003305/IIT, CSIR		Design of new building blocks for the synthesis of unusual a-amino acid derivatives	Jan 1995	Jan 2001
3		Mr. R. Sivakumar 95403602/Pro/CSIR		A novel synthetic approach to dodecahedrane	Jul 1995	Aug 2001
4		Mr. E. Manivannan 95403304/IIT		Synthesis and reactions of polycyclic systems.	Jul 1995	Aug 2001
5		Mr. S. Halder 96403005/IIT		Development of new methodologies for the synthesis of constrained phenylalanine derivatives	Jul 1996	July 2002
6		Ms. K. Lahiri 96403004/IIT		Synthesis of benzocyclobutene derivatives, C3-symmetric molecules and unusual peptides via the Suzuki‒Miyura coupling reaction	Jul 1996	July 2002
7		Mr. K. Mohanraja 96403001/IIT		Stereochemical effects in peptide design: Design and analysis of heterochiral and α, α-dialkyl peptides	Jul 1996	Apr 2002
8		Mr. M. Behera 97403005/CSIR		Synthesis of tetraphenylmethane derivatives, dibenzylglycines and allylated aromatics via the Suzuki‒Miyura coupling reaction	Jul 1997	Oct 2003
9		Mr. A. Ghosh 97403005/IIT		Cycloaddition approach to constrained a-amino acid derivatives and the synthesis of 9,10 diarylanthracenes via Suzuki coupling reaction	Jul 1997	Sep 2003
10		Mr. A. C. Deb 97403701/external		New synthetic approches to spirocyclics	Jul 1997	Nov 2004
11		Mr. D. Kasinath 99403309/CSIR		Synthesis of C3-symmetric polyaromatic compounds and functionalized benzocrowns via the trimerization, Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and Diels‒Alder reactions as key steps	Jan 2000	June 2005
12		Mr. K. Mandal 00403901/CSIR		Synthesis of polycyclics and unusual a-amino acid derivatives via olefin metathesis	Aug 2000	Apr 2006
13		Mr. S. Banerjee 01403308