Robert Woodward facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Woodward
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| Born | April 10, 1917 |
| Died | July 8, 1979 (aged 62) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | MIT |
| Known for | Organic syntheses, solution of several important structural puzzles, Woodward-Hoffmann rules |
| Awards | National Medal of Science (1964) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1965) Copley Medal (1978) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic chemistry |
| Institutions | Harvard University |
| Doctoral students | Harry Wasserman, Ronald Breslow, Stuart Schreiber, Ken Houk, William R. Roush |
Robert Burns Woodward (April 10, 1917 – July 8, 1979) was a famous American organic chemist. He made many important discoveries in modern organic chemistry. He was known for creating complex natural products in the lab. He also worked with Roald Hoffmann to understand how chemical reactions happen. Woodward won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1965 for his amazing work.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robert Woodward was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father died when Robert was just one year old.
He became interested in chemistry very early. By the time he was in high school, he had already done many experiments from a chemistry textbook. In 1928, he even asked the German consulate for copies of science papers. He loved reading about the Diels–Alder reaction by Otto Diels and Kurt Alder.
In 1933, he started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He struggled at first but was readmitted in 1935. By 1936, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree. Just one year later, MIT gave him his doctorate (Ph.D.). This was very unusual because most students took much longer. He then joined Harvard University in 1937 and stayed there for the rest of his life.
Discovering Chemical Structures
In the early 1940s, Woodward used a method called ultraviolet spectroscopy. This helped him figure out the structure of natural products. He gathered a lot of information and created a set of rules, now called the Woodward's rules. These rules helped chemists find the structures of new molecules much faster.
Woodward's discoveries saved chemists a lot of time. Before his rules, they had to use slower chemical methods to find out what compounds looked like. He was always quick to use new scientific tools.
Creating Quinine in the Lab
In 1944, Woodward and William von Eggers Doering successfully created quinine in the lab. Quinine is a substance used to treat malaria. At that time, it was hard to get quinine because of World War II.
Their method wasn't practical for making large amounts of quinine. But it was a huge step forward for chemistry. Before this, many thought it was impossible to build such complex structures. Woodward showed that making organic compounds could be a real science, not just trial and error. This was the first of many difficult and clever creations by Woodward.
Major Contributions to Chemistry
By the 1930s, chemists like Christopher Ingold and Robert Robinson had studied how organic reactions work. They made rules to predict how molecules would react. Woodward was one of the first to use these rules to plan how to build new substances.
Synthesizing Complex Molecules
From the late 1940s onwards, Woodward created many complex natural products. These included cholesterol, cortisone, strychnine, lysergic acid, reserpine, chlorophyll, cephalosporin, and colchicine. His work started a new era in chemistry, sometimes called the 'Woodwardian era'. He showed that natural products could be made in the lab by careful planning and using the rules of physical organic chemistry.
Many scientists thought Woodward's creations were amazing. Before him, some believed it was impossible to make these substances. His work also showed that there was an art to chemical synthesis. Chemists now look for both usefulness and elegance in their work. Woodward also used new techniques like infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
He paid close attention to stereochemistry. This is about the 3D shape of molecules. Many natural products, like medicines, only work if they have a specific 3D shape. Woodward was a leader in showing how to make compounds with the exact shape needed.
Solving Chemical Puzzles
During World War II, Woodward advised on the penicillin project. He also used new methods to figure out the structures of complicated molecules. Some of these included santonic acid, strychnine, magnamycin, and terramycin.
About terramycin, his colleague Derek Barton said that Woodward solved the puzzle using only his thoughts. Many smart chemists had tried and failed. Woodward took all the facts and figured out the correct structure. This showed how Woodward combined facts, chemical rules, and his own intuition to solve tough problems.
In the early 1950s, Woodward and British chemist Geoffrey Wilkinson suggested a structure for ferrocene. This compound combines an organic molecule with iron. This discovery started a new field called transition metal organometallic chemistry. This field later became very important for the chemical industry. Wilkinson won the Nobel Prize for this work in 1973. Some historians believe Woodward should have shared this prize.
Woodward won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work on creating complex organic molecules. In his Nobel speech, he talked about making the antibiotic cephalosporin. He even sped up the work to finish it around the time of the Nobel ceremony!
Vitamin B12 and Reaction Rules
In the early 1960s, Woodward started working on vitamin B12. This was the most complex natural product ever made in the lab at that time. He worked with Albert Eschenmoser and a team of almost 100 students. They spent many years on this project. The work was finally published in 1973. It was a huge achievement in organic chemistry. The process involved almost 100 steps and showed Woodward's careful planning. This work convinced chemists that any complex substance could be made if there was enough time and planning.
During the B12 synthesis, Woodward noticed some patterns. He and Roald Hoffmann then created rules, now called the Woodward–Hoffmann rules. These rules help predict the 3D shape of products from organic reactions. Woodward came up with the ideas from his experience. He asked Hoffmann to do calculations to check them. These rules were later proven correct by many experiments. Hoffmann shared the 1981 Nobel Prize for this work. Woodward had passed away two years before, so he could not share the prize.
Woodward Institute and Later Life
While at Harvard, Woodward also became the director of the Woodward Research Institute in Basel, Switzerland in 1963. He also served on the boards of MIT and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Robert Woodward died in Cambridge, Massachusetts from a heart attack in his sleep. He was working on making an antibiotic called erythromycin at the time.
A student of his once said that Woodward taught him to tackle hard problems. He showed that intelligence and effort could solve them. He also taught the beauty of modern organic chemistry. Woodward made big contributions to how we plan syntheses, figure out structures, invent new chemistry, and understand theory.
Images for kids
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Robert Burns Woodward in 1965.
