The Sandmeyer Prize is awarded every year by the Swiss Chemical Society to a chemist or a group of chemists for their outstanding research work. The research must be in applied chemistry or must lead to industrial application. The prize is named after Traugott Sandmeyer (1854 - 1922), who became famous in 1884 after discovering the reaction now known as the Sandmeyer's reaction. The chemist generated many patents for dyes, which contributed to build the world reputation of the company he worked for, Geigy.

The Sandmeyer Prize for 2004 goes to the research team of Bernd Herzog, Dietmar Hüglin, Helmut Luther, Elek Borsos, and Albert Stehlin, who developed two new and innovative high-performance UV absorbers for cosmetic sunscreens at Ciba.

New awareness of the risk of skin damage and skin cancer and increasing exposure to UV radiation on earth have brought forth a sharp increase in demand for UV protection for human beings. This outstanding team therefore set itself the goal of developing new UV filters for cosmetics based on Ciba's core competency in light protection for plastics and coatings.

In their first project, the laureates succeeded in creating the first organic micro-fine particle UV filter for cosmetics. The TINOSORB M product scatters and reflects UV radiation with its special tiny particles while its organic molecules simultaneously absorb rays as effectively as conventional UV absorbers. The key to success was micro-fine milling for optimization of particle size and size distribution.

In their second project, this outstanding team developed the first UV absorber for cosmetics in the hydroxyphenyl-triazine (HPT) class. These substances are among the most photostable UV absorbers but have not previously been used for cosmetics. The TINOSORB S product is distinguished by broad absorption in the UVA and UVB range, excellent photostability, and is waterproof and readily soluble in cosmetic formulations. The desired absorption characteristics were achieved with donor substituents (alkoxy groups) in the para-positions of all three phenyl rings in combination with two ortho hydroxyl groups. The desired solubility profile was achieved through optimization of the alkyl substituents.

Both products set new standards for solar UV protection and are being used today in leading sunscreen products.