Jean-Marie Lehn (born 30 September 1939)[2] is a Frenchchemist who received theNobel Prize in Chemistry together withDonald Cram andCharles Pedersen in 1987 for his synthesis ofcryptands. Lehn was an early innovator in the field ofsupramolecular chemistry, i.e., the chemistry ofhost–guest molecular assemblies created byintermolecular interactions, and continues to innovate in this field. He described the process by which molecules recognize each other. Drugs, for example, "know" which cell to destroy and which to let live.[3] According to information provided by Lehn to theNobel Foundation in January 2006, his group had published 790 peer-reviewed articles in chemistry literature by then.[2]
A circular helical assembly reported by Jean-Marie Lehnet al. inAngew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 1838–1840.Crystal structure of afoldamer reported by Lehnet al. inHelv. Chim. Acta., 2003, 86, 1598–1624.
Lehn was born inRosheim,Alsace,France to Pierre and Marie Lehn. He is ofAlsatian German descent. His father was a baker, but because of his interest in music, he later became the city organist. Lehn also studied music, saying that it became his major interest after science. He has continued to play the organ throughout his professional career as a scientist. His high school studies inObernai, from 1950 to 1957, included Latin, Greek, German, and English languages, French literature, and he later became very keen of both philosophy and science, particularlychemistry. In July 1957, he obtained the baccalauréat inphilosophy, and in September of the same year, the baccalauréat inNatural Sciences.
At theUniversity of Strasbourg, although he considered studying philosophy, he ended up taking courses in physical, chemical and natural sciences, attending the lectures ofGuy Ourisson, and realizing that he wanted to pursue a research career in organic chemistry. He joined Ourisson's lab, working his way to the Ph.D. There, he was in charge of the lab's first NMR spectrometer, and published his first scientific paper, which pointed out an additivity rule for substituent induced shifts of proton NMR signals in steroid derivatives. He obtained his Ph.D., and went to work for a year atRobert Burns Woodward's laboratory atHarvard University, working among other things on the synthesis ofvitamin B12.[4]
In 1966, he was appointed a position asmaître de conférences (assistant professor) at the Chemistry Department of theUniversity of Strasbourg. His research focused on the physical properties of molecules, synthesizing compounds specifically designed for exhibiting a given property, in order to better understand how that property was related to structure.
In 1968, he achieved the synthesis of cage-like molecules, comprising a cavity inside which another molecule could be lodged. Organic chemistry enabled him to engineer cages with the desired shape, thus only allowing a certain type of molecule to lodge itself in the cage. This was the premise for an entire new field in chemistry, sensors. Such mechanisms also play a great role inmolecular biology.
These cryptands, as Lehn dubbed them, became his main center of interest, and led to his definition of a new type of chemistry, "supramolecular chemistry", which instead of studying the bonds inside one molecule, looks at intermolecular attractions, and what would be later called "fragile objects", such as micelles, polymers, or clays.
In 1980, he was elected to become a teacher at the prestigiousCollège de France, and in 1987 was awarded the Nobel Prize, alongside Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen for his works on cryptands.
^Lehn, Jean-Marie (24 December 2000)."Interview"(PDF).Advanced Materials.12 (24): 1897.Archived(PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved31 March 2019.
^Masood, Ehsan (22 July 2006)."Islam's reformers". Prospect.Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved19 May 2013.It is a scene I won't forget in a hurry: Jean-Marie Lehn, French winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry, defending his atheism at a packed public conference at the new Alexandria Library in Egypt.
Jean-Marie Lehn on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel lecture, 8 December 1987Supramolecular Chemistry – Scope and Perspectives Molecules – Supermolecules – Molecular Devices
