Russell Earl Marker and the Beginning of the Steroidal Pharmaceutical Industry

A biographical essay is presented on the chemical research of Russell E. Marker (1902–1995). The biography begins in 1925 with Marker's decision to forgo a Ph.D. in chemistry because he did not wish to complete the course requirements at the University of Maryland. Marker then took a position at the Ethyl Gasoline Company where he helped develop the octane rating for gasoline. He then moved to the Rockefeller Institute where he studied the Walden inversion, and then to Penn State College where his already prolific publication record soared to even greater heights. In the 1930s, Marker became fascinated with steroids and their potential as pharmaceuticals and collected specimens from plants in the southwest US and Mexico, discovering many sources of steroidal sapogenins. With his students at Penn State College, where he rose to full professor, he discovered the structure of these sapogenins and invented the “Marker degradation” that converted diosgenin and other sapogenins into progesterone. Together with Emeric Somlo and Federico Lehmann, he co-founded Syntex and began the manufacture of progesterone. Shortly thereafter, he left Syntex, began another pharmaceutical company in Mexico, then quit chemistry altogether. A discussion of Marker's legacies and the ironies in his professional career is provided.     

Chemiker,Techniker, Unternehmer: Zum 150. Geburtstag von Hermann Frasch

Hermann Frasch was born 150 years ago in the former Kingdom Württemberg in Germany. 16 years old he emigrated to America where he became one of the most important chemists in the oil industry. He introduced new distillation methods and invented processes to clean mineral oil from sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbons. His „Frasch process”︁ made it possible to exploit sulphur deposits by melting the sulphur in the soil and pumping the liquid sulphur to the surface.     

The productive scientific career of Charles Pedersen (October 3, 1904–October 26, 1989)

Charles Pedersen's career is reviewed from the time of his early life in Korea and Japan and scientific training in the United States to the present. His 42-year research career was practically and scientifically productive, leading finally to a share of the Nobel prize in chemistry for 1987. Commercially significant accomplishments included a large improvement in the yield of tetraethylead antiknock and discovery of the first oil soluble agents for inhibiting catalytic effects of copper in degradation of petroleum products and rubber. This led to a study of the interactions of metals with chelating agents and the resultant effects on oxidation reactions, thence to the behavior of peroxides and their reactions with substrates. He also discovered the antiknock activity of ferrocene. While studying the effects of ligands on the catalytic behavior of vanadium he discovered the crown compounds and their ability to include alkali metal ions. He devoted the last years of his career to elaborating their chemistry.Taken in part with permission fromCurrent Topics in Macrocyclic Chemistry in Japan, E. Kimura (ed.), Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Hiroshima, 1987.     

杨石先对农药化学学科的重要贡献及其学术思想

杨石先先生一生献身于我国的教育事业与化学学科的发展,在62年中为我国培养了无数高质量的科教人才。他除了长期担任南开大学校长之外, 还创建了我国大学第一个专职研究所,即元素有机化学研究所。他率先开展了我国元素有机化学与农药化学的科学研究,领导了元素有机化学国家重点实验室的建立,是我国元素有机化学和农药化学的奠基人和开拓者。他倡导用有机化学的专业知识,科学和系统地开展农药化学研究,组建队伍获得20项科研成果,发表上百篇科学与论述性论文,为我国开展自主创新农药研究事业作出重要贡献。在农药化学学科的学术思想中,他强调要弄清该学科的交叉性、系统性和内在规律性,倡导要学习国际先进经验,要结合国情自主创新,要为国家经济服务,要对世界农药科技做出贡献。他毕生对人才培养给予了特别的重视,为我国科技事业持续发展作出了重大贡献。     

On the contribution of A. C. Hurley to theoretical chemistry

Andrew Crowther Hurley was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 11 July 1926 and received his early education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with high honors in mathematics and natural philosophy and, in 1949, was awarded his M.A. with first class honors in the school of mathematics for his thesis “The Irreducible Crystal Classes in Four Dimensions,” his supervisor being Dr. Hans Schwerdtfeger. From 1950–1952 he was a member of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was awarded a Ph.D. for his research in theoretical chemistry under Sir John Lennard-Jones. In 1953 he returned to Melbourne and joined what was to become the Division of Chemical Physics of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). The award of a fellowship by Trinity College enabled him to spend two more years, 1954–1956, in the Theoretical Chemistry Department of the University of Cambridge, and this was followed by a year with Professor J.C. Slater's solid state and molecular theory group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1957 Andrew again returned to the Division of Chemical Physics in Melbourne, where he has remained, except for the academic year 1962–1963, when he was Visiting Professor in Theoretical Chemistry at Iowa State University.     

《催化学报》庆祝何鸣元院士八十华诞专刊

《催化学报》以本期专刊的出版庆祝何鸣元院士八十华诞,表达对何先生五十多年来为我国催化及相关领域发展所作出的卓越贡献的崇高敬意!何鸣元先生1940年2月8日出生于上海,1961年毕业于华东纺织工学院(现东华大学)应用化学专业,同年进入石油化工科学研究院工作至今.1980-1984年作为访问学者赴美国西北大学化学系和美国得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校化工系进行合作研究.2000年以来,应邀兼任华东师范大学教授,2003年领导建立上海市绿色化学与化工过程绿色化重点实验室.何鸣元先生担任过许多学术职务.曾任石油化工科学研究院总工程师、学术委员会副主任,中国科学院学部主席团成员、化学部副主任,中国化学会常务理事、绿色化学专业委员会主任,国际催化理事会理事,国际沸石分子筛协会副主席等.何鸣元先生长期从事催化材料、炼油化工催化剂与工艺研究.发明了一系列沸石分子筛合成新方法与炼油催化剂,开发了双反应区催化裂化增产汽油异构烷烃MIP工艺(Maximum Isoparaffin Process)等多个具有自主知识产权的新工艺,为发展我国重油裂化技术、提高催化裂化汽油辛烷值、开发新标准汽油生产技术等作出了突出贡献.何鸣元先生是我国绿色化学的奠基人之一,他以国民经济可持续增长为目标,大力倡导和推动绿色化学与化工学术研究与技术开发.2001年担任科技部国家基础研究重大项目(2001-2005)'石油炼制与基本有机化学品加工的绿色化学'首席科学家,推动了多项绿色炼油与化工新技术的突破和工业应用.针对碳资源利用过程中所面临的效率低、污染物排放严重等问题,2011年,何先生和合作者从碳资源加工、利用和循环等全周期考虑,提出了'绿色碳科学'的概念,对碳资源的高效、清洁、循环利用具有重要的指导作用.近年来,发起并主持了以'可持续发展能源化工的科学基础:绿色碳科学与绿色氢科学'沸石分子筛:等级特性、选择催化与分子工程'绿色生态环境与化学化工'等为主题的香山科学会议以及其它高水平学术会议,为相关学科指出了发展方向.何鸣元先生获得了许多学术奖励和荣誉.他于1995年当选为中国科学院院士,曾获得国家发明二等奖(1995)、何梁何利科学技术进步奖(2001)、中国催化成就奖(2012)、法国教育部棕榈叶骑士勋章(2012)、法国里昂高师荣誉博士学位(2016)、中国分子筛终身成就奖(2019)等,在国内外催化与石油化工界享有崇高的声誉.本期专刊收录了15篇学术论文,内容涉及新型分子筛催化剂的合成、单原子催化、光催化、电催化以及甲烷、二氧化碳、生物质等碳资源的催化转化等,一定程度上反映了何先生过去五十多年的研究兴趣,并展现了当前国际催化科学与技术研究的前沿和进展.在此,我们衷心感谢论文作者、审稿专家和《催化学报》编辑部等相关人员所给予的大力支持.     

In memoriam

Prof. Ing. Zdeněk Šolc, CSc (21 September 1931–30 September 2006) Prof. Zdeněk Šolc was born in 1931. After finishing his university studies, he joined the University of Pardubice where he remained for more than 50 years. He started to work at the Department of Physical Chemistry. His main fields of interest were: preparation of monocrystals, crystallization from solutions, measuring of physical and chemical properties of solutions. In the 1960's he turned to inorganic technology, studying inoranic pigments and he moved to the Department of Inorganic Technology. In this vast area of science, he achieved his greatest successes, and pigments became his ever-lasting passion up to the end of his life. The research in the field of crystallisation was oriented to development of liquid crystals for use in temperature indication, and materials for integrated circuits; besides that a school of inorganic pigments was formed (M. Trojan, Z. Šolc, D. Brandová) whose main orientation is mixed oxide materials for use in ceramics and enamels. A predominant part of the mentioned research activities was pursued at KAnT in 1990–1996, when the Department was headed by Professor Ing. Zdeněk Šolc. Most of Prof. ŠolcŠs projects were focused on the reactivity of inorganic pigments and powder materials, research of their high-temperature syntheses and rating of their physical and chemical properties. He applied mainly simultaneous thermal analytical techniques: thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis using dynamic measuring conditions and quasi-isothermal and quasi-isobaric ones, moreover emanation thermal analysis and thermal conductivity measurements. Prof. Zdeněk Šolc was a creative scientist. He published more than 50 scientific papers in international journals and wrote 10 textbooks. He was the author of almost 100 lectures of conferences held in the Czech Republic and foreign countries. He had a silent but a very kind personality and he will be missed very much both by the local and the international communities. Requiescat in pace     

World War II, post-war reconstruction and British women chemists

This paper draws on evidence from a range of sources to consider the extent to which World War II served as a turning point in the employment opportunities open to women chemists in Britain. It argues that wartime conditions expanded women's access to some areas of employment, but that these opportunities represented, in many ways, an expansion of existing openings rather than wholly new ones, and not all of them proved permanent. Instead, women chemists benefited more permanently from increased state expenditure on higher education and on research and development after the war. This enabled some women to remain in what had originally been temporary wartime posts and others to secure employment in wholly new positions. Women were most successful in securing positions created by the expansion of state welfare and support for agriculture, but also found new employment opportunities as a result of the heavy investment in weapons development that accelerated with the advent of the Cold War. In higher education, an initial expansion of openings was not sustained, and the proportion of women in university chemistry departments actually fell during the second half of the 1950s. Industry presents a rather ambiguous picture, with many firms continuing to refuse to employ women chemists, whereas elsewhere they enjoyed enhanced opportunities and better salaries than those offered before the war. This did not mean, however, that women chemists received equal treatment to their male colleagues, and, despite the changes, they remained concentrated in subordinate positions and were expected to concentrate on routine work. Prospects in the 1950s were certainly better than they had been during the 1930s, but they remained strongly gendered.     

Robert Hare's Theory of Galvanism: A Study of Heat and Electricity in Early Nineteenth-Century American Chemistry

As a professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, Robert Hare actively shaped early American science. He participated in a large network of scholars, including Joseph Henry, François Arago, and Jacob Berzelius, and experimented with and wrote extensively about electricity and its associated chemical and thermal phenomena. In the early nineteenth century, prominent chemists such as Berzelius and Humphry Davy proclaimed that a revolution had occurred in chemistry through electrical research. Examining Robert Hare’s contributions to this discourse, this paper analyzes how Hare’s study of electricity and the caloric theory of heat led him to propose a new theory of galvanism. It also examines the reception of Hare’s work in America and Great Britain, highlighting the contributions of early American chemists to the development of electrochemistry.     

Lars Onsager (1903–1976), Chemist-Physicist, on the Silver Anniversary of His Death

The Norwegian-born theoretical chemist-physicist Lars Onsager (1903–1976) received the 1968 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes. A recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, which he did not receive until relatively late in life, he taught at the Johns Hopkins and Brown universities, but spent most of his academic career at Yale University (1933–1972). He spent his post-retirement years (1972–1976) as Distinguished University Professor at the University of Miamis Center for Theoretical Studies, where he continued his work with several postdoctoral research fellows.     

Humphry Davy: Analogy,Priority, and the “true philosopher”

This essay explores how Davy fashioned himself as, what he called in his poetry, a “true philosopher.” He defined the “true philosopher” as someone who eschewed monetary gain for his scientific work, preferring instead to give knowledge freely for the public good, and as someone working at a higher level than the mere experimentalist. Specifically, Davy presented himself as using the method of analogy to reach his discoveries and emphasised that he understood the “principle” behind his findings. He portrayed himself as one who perceived analogies because he had a wider perspective on the world than many others in his society. The poem in which he describes the “true philosopher” offers us Davy’s private view of this character; the essay then demonstrates how Davy attempted to depict his own character in this way during critical moments in his career.     

黄鸣龙——我国有机化学的一位先驱

黄鸣龙院士(1898-1979)1919年浙江医药专科学校毕业,1924年德国柏林大学有机药物化学博士;1924-1934年任浙江医专教授、主任,卫生署化学部主任;1934-1940年在欧洲先灵公司等从事研究工作;1940年回国在昆明任中研院化学所研究员,兼任西南联大教授;1945年赴美在哈佛大学,默克公司从事研究工作。1952年绕道欧洲回国,先后在中国人民解放军医学科学院化学系和中国科学院上海有机化学研究所任研究员。1955年当选为中国科学院学部委员(院士)。黄先生一生从事有机化学的教育和研究工作,他在有机化学的“结构与机理”以及“反应和合成”二大方面都作出了在国内外具有深远影响的工作。20世纪40年代黄先生发现了变质山道年4个立体异构体的循环转变,堪称立体化学的经典之作;1948年发表了黄鸣龙还原反应;1952年归国后引领和发展了我国的甾体化学研究,带领了我国甾体药物的生产发展,是我国甾体药物工业的奠基人。黄先生治学严谨,既重视应用研究,又强调基础研究;关注学习新知识、新概念,又更重视实验技术。黄先生教书育人,身体力行,是我国有机化学发展的先驱者和奠基人。     

Interview with Prof. Dr. Benjamin List: Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2021

In an interview with Benjamin List, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, members of the Young Chemists’ Network (JCF) of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) asked him about his science, his career, and the academic system. Benjamin List, Director at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Germany, was awarded the Nobel Prize together with David W. C. MacMillan (Princeton University, USA) for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. After studying chemistry at the Free University of Berlin, he received his doctorate from Goethe University in Frankfurt. He discovered the amino acid proline to be an efficient catalyst and thus co-founded the field of organocatalysis. In 2016, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, which is considered the most important research award in Germany.     

H. C. Brown Centennial (1912–2004)

Herbert Brown discovered the reaction of hydroboration and the most successful compound he made was sodium borohydride. His life and research activities took interesting turns and seemed often governed by serendipity. He was consistent in his hard work and dedication to chemistry. He was both an inorganic and an organic chemist and his research often presented challenges to the structural chemists.     

Laser-Assisted Synthesis of Non-Equilibrium Nanoalloys

Vincenzo Amendola is Professor of Physical Chemistry at Padova University, where he established and directs the Laser-Assisted Synthesis and Plasmonics (LASP) lab. He obtained a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in 2008 and the Italian qualification as Full Professor in 2017, after research experience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cambridge University. He is part of the Program Committee of the ANGEL conference series and he is a current member of the ChemPhysChem Editorial Advisory Board.     

The Dawn of X‐Ray Astronomy (Nobel Lecture)

Riccardo Giacconi joined the American Science and Engineering Corporation (AS & E) after leaving Princeton University in 1959, and in 1962 his group there detected the first extrasolar Xray source. Prof. Giacconi was subsequently responsible for the launch and use of the satellite UHURU (1970) and the EINSTEIN observatory (1978). He was appointed Associate Director of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the Harvard‐Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in 1973 and was also appointed Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University that same year. In 1981 he became the first Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and was also appointed Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University. In 1992 he was appointed Director General of the European Southern Observatory, an intergovernmental organization of eight nations. Prof. Giaconni is currently President of Associated Universities, Inc., and Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He was awarded the Wolf Prize in 1987, and the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2002.     

Sir Thomas Browne and the Study of Colour Indicators

Abstract

This reinterpretation of Carl Wilhelm Scheele's (1742–86) early life and career analyses the social interplay between Scheele and other chemists who were active in eighteenth-century Sweden. It is argued that Scheele, a rather lowly journeyman working in peripheral pharmacies, had to work hard and traverse several geographical and social boundaries to gain a foothold in the scientific community. Eventually, Scheele's skilful analysis of the mineral magnesia nigra would establish him as one of the pivotal Swedish chemists. However, this happened only after Scheele had managed to prove himself as a knowledgeable chemist who did not threaten the authority of certain socially superior colleagues. When Scheele had gained a place in the scientific community, the exchange logic of the eighteenth-century republic of letters permitted him to trade experimental results for other kinds of resources. Hence, he gained in both social status, economic prosperity and scientific prominence in a relatively short time.     

On the analysis of ionic surface conduction to unravel charging processes at macroscopic soft and hard solid–liquid interfaces

The electrohydrodynamics of soft interfaces and the processes underlying interfacial charge formation by, for example, unsymmetrical ion adsorption are important aspects of current research on the electrosurface phenomena. In particular, the recent progress in both fields greatly benefits from the now-possible accurate evaluation and quantitative interpretation of (ionic) excess conductivities at solid surfaces and in 3D polyelectrolytic architectures. Achievements in the proper formulation of the conceptual and theoretical framework and in the improvement of measurement capabilities have been tightly connected to the work of Johannes (Hans) Lyklema (1930–2017). Considering his valuable contributions, we herein summarize the theoretical basis of surface conductivity analyses, review the experimental options for the quantification of the surface conductivity at macroscopic planar solid–liquid interfaces, and discuss exemplary surface conductivity case studies for soft and hard interfaces permeable or not to ions and fluid flow.Dedication: Johannes Lyklema (November 23, 1930–October 31, 2017) was a key scientist in colloid and interface science. He completed his doctorate at the University of Utrecht in 1957 under the supervision of Professor J. Th. G. Overbeek with a thesis entitled ‘Adsorption of counterions.’ In 1963, he was appointed a Professor of Physical and Colloid Chemistry at Wageningen Agricultural College (later named Wageningen University), a position he kept until his retirement in 1995. Under his directorate, the Laboratory of Physical and Colloid Chemistry at the Wageningen University became a world-leading research center known for its key research in the fields of interfaces, macromolecules, and electrochemistry. Johannes Lyklema published almost 400 articles and wrote the five-volume text book ‘Fundamentals of Interface and Colloid Science’; he gave lectures in five languages and in five continents, received honorary doctorates in Belgium, Sweden, and Spain, and has been awarded with the Order of the Dutch Lion, to quote only a few of the distinctions and awards he received during his career. In his research, Johannes Lyklema paid particular attention to the analysis and interpretation of the electrosurface phenomena. He was the founder and chairman of the International Advisory Board of the conference series Electrokinetic Phenomena (ELKIN) and section editor on electrokinetics in this journal (Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science). We will remember Johannes Lyklema as an eminent scientist as well as a warm-hearted and outstanding person.     

Stepping through science's door: C. W. Scheele, from pharmacist's apprentice to man of science

This reinterpretation of Carl Wilhelm Scheele's (1742-86) early life and career analyses the social interplay between Scheele and other chemists who were active in eighteenth-century Sweden. It is argued that Scheele, a rather lowly journeyman working in peripheral pharmacies, had to work hard and traverse several geographical and social boundaries to gain a foothold in the scientific community. Eventually, Scheele's skilful analysis of the mineral magnesia nigra would establish him as one of the pivotal Swedish chemists. However, this happened only after Scheele had managed to prove himself as a knowledgeable chemist who did not threaten the authority of certain socially superior colleagues. When Scheele had gained a place in the scientific community, the exchange logic of the eighteenth-century republic of letters permitted him to trade experimental results for other kinds of resources. Hence, he gained in both social status, economic prosperity and scientific prominence in a relatively short time.     

Forty-five years of chemical discovery including a golden quarter-century

Inorganic chemistry became a passion for me as a graduate student in the 1950s. It was exciting to be part of the renaissance of the discipline, and I am pleased to have contributed to its strength. Physical concepts applied to the understanding of the properties of transition metal compounds guided our work initially. In the 1970s, probably as a direct result of the world abandoning the gold standard, the chemistry of gold was awakened after a long sleep. Much of the chemistry covered in this review of our work relates to novel compounds of gold and the properties they display which have been uncovered during the last 25 years of the 20th century. Stable metal-metal bonded Au(II) and organometallic Au(III) compounds, bi- and trimetallic oxidative addition, phosphorescent species with microsecond lifetimes, gold chains resulting from aurophilic bonding stronger than H-bonding, and recently, gold binding to organic pi acids have intrigued my group and other gold chemists during this period.