Makhluf Haddadin

Makhluf Haddadin is a Jordanian chemistry professor at the American University of Beirut.

Makhluf J. Haddadin was born in Ma'in, Jordan. He won a full scholarship, by the Jordanian Ministry of Education, to study Chemistry at the American University of Beirut from which he graduated with a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. (Professor C. H. Issidorides) degrees. And thereafter, left for the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA where he received a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry (Professor Alfred Hassner). After two years of postdoctoral work (Professor Louis Fieser) at Harvard University, he joined the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut where he is now a Professor of Chemistry.

Professor Haddadin considers himself a Heterocyclic Chemist whose contribution to this field of Chemistry is topped by his co-invention, with Emeritus Professor Costas H. Issidorides, of what is currently known in the chemical literature as “The Beirut Reaction”. This reaction can be described as a very simple method of making hundreds if not thousands of heterocyclic compounds some of which have antibacterial activities and anticancer properties. The latter are exemplified by the trade names of Carbadox and Mecadox which were marketed by the drug company: Chas. Pfizer. One compound that has been made by the Beirut Reaction is TPZ (3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazene 1,4-dioxide) which is currently in the third stage of clinical testing as an anticancer drug. In addition to the rich chemistry of the Beirut reaction, Professor Haddadin did original work in the areas of Isobenzofuran, Isoindoles, tetrazines, quinolines, furans, pyrroles, cinnolines and indazoles. He has ninety publications in internationally refereed journals, and some 42 patents in 25 countries.

He served his alma mater as Vice President for Academic Affairs (12 years), Acting Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (3.5 years), Chairman of the Chemistry Department (10 years), occasional Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Acting Deputy President and Acting President. He values highly his services during the Lebanese civil strife (1975-1989). In addition to Heterocyclic Chemistry, he loves poetry especially Arabic poetry.

Haddadin co-discovered the Davis-Beirut chemical reaction with Mark Kurth and first published about it around 2005. In their seventh paper on the subject, Kurth and Haddadin named it after the universities where they work, University of California, Davis and American University of Beirut.