| Citation | Mehta is the most outstanding and creative organic chemist of his generation in India today. He has made seminal contributions in several areas of research, ranging from total synthesis of important natural products, the creation of novel molecular architectures, and studies of stereoelectronic effects in organic reactions. His total syntheses of complex polycyclic natural products and sugars, in particular, are distinguished for their simplicity and elegance, several for the first time. His seminal studies of the design and synthesis of new molecular objects are illustrated with the 'ladderanes', 'prismanes, fullerenes, the first 'oxa-bowl' and the peristylanes. His critical and incisive studies of the steroelectronic effects controlling cycloaddition reactions are of fundamental significance and are widely cited. |