Ms. Kifa Kim (second-year Master student, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University) received the Poster Award at the 27th International Symposium on Organic Chemistry of Sulfur at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany in July.

Chlorophylls play important roles as principal molecules to harvest, transfer and convert sunlight energy in photosynthetic organisms. Ms. Kim, along with Professor Tamiaki, her academic supervisor, succeeded to synthesize novel chlorophyll derivatives possession various sulfur-functional groups and reported synthesis of new sulfur-substituted chlorophyll derivatives at the C3 position and their chemical and optical properties in a solution.

Her research would be the first step for the artificial photosynthesis.