Charles John Pedersen 安井 良男 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1904-10-03)October 3, 1904 |
| Died | October 26, 1989(1989-10-26) (aged 85) Salem, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Dayton,Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Discovery ofcrown ethers Development ofmetal deactivators |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1987) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic chemistry |
| Institutions | DuPont |
Charles John Pedersen (Japanese:安井 良男,Yasui Yoshio, October 3, 1904 – October 26, 1989) was an Americanorganic chemist best known for discoveringcrown ethers and describing methods of synthesizing them during his entire 42-year career as a chemist forDuPont atDuPont Experimental Station inWilmington, Delaware, and at DuPont's Jackson Laboratory in Deepwater, New Jersey.[1] Often associated withReed McNeil Izatt, Pedersen also shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 withDonald J. Cram andJean-Marie Lehn. He is one of three Nobel Prize laureates born inKorea, along with Peace Prize laureateKim Dae-jung and Literature laureateHan Kang.[2]
Pedersen made many other discoveries in chemistry, such as discovering and developingmetal deactivators.[3] His early investigations also led to the development of a dramatically improved process for manufacturingtetraethyl lead, an important gasoline additive.[4] He also contributed to the development ofneoprene.[5]
Born on October 3, 1904, inBusan,Korea,[6] Charles J. Pedersen was the youngest of three children. His father, Brede Pedersen, was aNorwegian marine engineer who immigrated toKorea in order to join the Korean customs service after leaving home due to family issues.[7] Later, he worked as a mechanical engineer at theUnsan County mines in present-dayNorth Korea.[8] His Japanese mother, Takino Yasui, immigrated fromJapan toKorea with her family and established a successful line of work by tradingsoybeans andsilkworms located close to theUnsan County mines, where the couple ultimately met.[7] Although not much is mentioned about his elder brother, who died in childhood shortly before Pedersen was born, he had an older sister named Astrid, who was five years older than him.[7] InJapan, he used the Japanese given nameYoshio (良男), which he spelled using thekanji for "good" and "man".[9] According to Pedersen in a separate autobiographical account of his childhood, he had been born prior to theRusso-Japanese War and because his mother had still been grieving over the then-recent death of his older brother, he did not feel welcomed as a child.[10]
Despite living in what is nowNorth Korea, because Pedersen lived in the vicinity of the American-ownedUnsan County mines, which spanned approximately 500 square miles in area,[11] he grew up speaking primarilyEnglish.[7]
At around 8 years old, Pedersen was sent by his family to study abroad inNagasaki, Japan and then later transferred toSt. Joseph College inYokohama, Japan.[12]
After successfully completing his education at St. Joseph College,[12] due to the close ties his family had with theSociety of Mary (Marianists),[7] Pedersen decided to attend college inAmerica at theUniversity of Dayton inOhio.
While spending his undergraduate life in 1922 studyingchemical engineering at theUniversity of Dayton inOhio, Pedersen had been a well balanced student who immersed himself in the sports, academic and social aspects of his college. With a passion for the sport oftennis, Pedersen played on his school's varsity tennis team under Coach Frank Kronauge, a formerUniversity of Dayton tennis captain.[13] Playing for all four years of his undergraduate years, Pedersen became captain for both of his junior and senior seasons on the team.[13] Furthermore, Pedersen spent his time as both the vice-president of the Engineers' Club as well as in charge of Literary in the Daytonian Editorial Department[13]. Graduating from theUniversity of Dayton in 1926 with a degree inchemical engineering,[13] he was dedicated for his time at the university as well as the various accomplishments he made while studying as an undergraduate.
Earning abachelor's degree inchemical engineering, Pedersen decided to attend theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in order to obtain amaster's degree in organic chemistry. Although his professors at the time encouraged him to stay and pursue a PhD in organic chemistry, Pedersen decided to start his career instead, partially because he no longer wanted to be supported by his father. He is one of the few people to win aNobel Prize in the sciences without having aPhD.[9]
After leaving theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Pedersen became employed at theDuPont Company inWilmington, Delaware, in 1927 through connections from his research advisor, ProfessorJames F. Norris.[13] While atDuPont, Pedersen was able to begin research at the Jackson Laboratory under William S. Calcott and finished his career with DuPont at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware.[7] As a young chemist atDuPont, Pedersen witnessed and gained inspiration many flourishing chemists such as Julian Hill andRoy J. Plunkett, and also breakthroughs in polymers and work in the field of organic chemistry.[14] Pedersen had a particular interest inindustry as he started his focus on his chemical career, which influenced the direction of problems he set out to solve as a chemist. As Pedersen began working on problems as a new chemist, he was free to work on whatever problems fascinated him and he quickly became interested inoxidative degradation and stabilization ofsubstrate.[14] Pedersen's papers and work expanded beyond this, however it was a major influence to his eventualNobel Prize awarded research.
Retiring at the age of 65, his work resulted in 25 papers and 65 patents, and in 1967, he published two works describing the methods of synthesizingcrown ethers (cyclic polyethers).[15] The donut-shaped molecules were the first in a series of extraordinary compounds that form stable structures withalkali metalions. In 1987, he shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in this area withDonald Cram andJean-Marie Lehn, whom expanded upon his original discoveries.[16] In the whole process of the Nobel Prize winning, the Dupont Company fully supported Pedersen by providing him a full-time public relations man, and a part-time secretary. DuPont Company also utilized their own corporate aircraft to accompany Pedersen and his family, as he could not travel on commercial aircraft.[17]
At around 1960, Pedersen went back to research in the field ofCoordination Chemistry, focusing on thesynthesis ofmultidentate ligands. It was recommended by his colleagueHerman Schroeder to work on thecoordination chemistry ofvanadium before working on thepolymerization andoxidativecatalytic activity ofvanadium.[18] It was while working on this research that Pedersen made his discovery ofcrown ether.[19] Through studying the bio[2-(o-Hydroxyphenoxy)Ethyl]ether, Pedersen accidentally discovered an unknown substances described as a "goo" while purifying the compound.[18] Usingultraviolet–visible spectroscopy to study its reactions withphenol groups, after treating the samples withalkali, although theabsorption curve initially showed no changes, it was observed to have shifted to higherabsorption readings if one or more of thehydroxy groups wereunpaired.[19] Basing further research on this observation, Pedersen then dipped the unknown product inmethanol andsodium hydroxide. Although the solution was not soluble inmethanol, it becamealkaline when in contact with thesodium hydroxide.[16]
Due to not beingsoluble inmethanol, Pedersen then proceeded to treat themethanol withsolublesodium salts, to which the unknown substance becamesoluble, allowing him to conclude that thesolubility was due tosodium ions instead ofalkalinity.[18] Since the behavior of this substance mirrored that of 2,3-benzo-1,4,7-trioxacyclononane, with twice themolecular-weight, the unknown molecule was then coined asdibenzo-18-crown-6, the first of the aromatic crown compounds discovered.[19]
In 1968Izatt was on a train ride home when he stopped inChicago to meet with thephysiologist George Eisenman who informedIzatt about Pedersen's paper oncrown ethers published only months earlier.[20]Izatt was looking forward to the possibilities of studying thesecrown ethers with histhermionictitration technique.Izatt called Pedersen and was the first scientist not atDuPont to meet with Pedersen about his discovery and Pedersen supplied him with a sample of his newcrown ether compound.Izatt's work onmolecular recognition was greatly influenced by his interaction with Pedersen. InIzatt's last visit with Pedersen prior to his death in 1988 he found a personal letter written by Pedersen that stated, "Most men achieve 'Immortality' through their progeny. I have no child of my own. Possibly, the crown ethers will serve, in a small way, to mark my footprint on earth" andIzatt believing this too shares Pedersen's message.[20]
Cram shared the 1987Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Pedersen but expanding on Pedersen's monumental discovery inmacrocyclic chemistry ofcrown ethers.[8] Pedersen's work was intwo-dimensional structures butCram was able to synthesize similar molecules inthree-dimensional space. Cram's synthesis of thesethree-dimensional molecules provided large gains in the production ofenzymes made in labs as these structures haveselectivity based on complementary structures.[21]
Lehn was the other scientist who shared theNobel Prize in Chemistry with Pedersen and was fundamental in starting the field ofSupramolecular chemistry.Lehn's work specifically identified in his recognition for theNobel Prize was in his work oncryptands.[14]
Although minimal research has been conducted on thiscompound, Pedersen observed that it had potential to work as a deactivator forcopper. Nevertheless, it was the first of the manymetal deactivators, which function by converting an inactivecomplex from an otherwisecatalyticmetal ion.[22]
Pedersen was married to Susan J. Ault in 1947[19] and the couple then moved toSalem, New Jersey, where they resided until Ault died on February 8, 1983, at 72 years old. Pedersen was diagnosed withmyeloma in 1983, and though he was becoming increasingly frail, he traveled toStockholm to accept theNobel Prize in late 1987.[19] Shortly thereafter, he was awarded a medal for excellence by theDuPont Research Fellows. He died on 26 October 1989 inSalem, New Jersey.[23]
Following Pedersen's breakthrough in realizing his accidental product and structure ofdibenzo-18-crown-6, huge advancements have been made in the fields ofmacrocyclic andsupramolecular chemistry. Pedersen devoted the rest of his research career to studying thesemolecules and started one of the largest growths recently seen in a specific field of chemistry. This growth in Pedersen's field of work following his momentous discovery formacrocyclic compounds can be seen in the work of the 2016Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry formolecular motors where Pedersen's work allowed for the insight in how to create the molecular specific structures. The molecular machines were recognized as the focus of the 2016Nobel Prize Winners, which were produced by connectingmolecules to various molecular rings.[20]
| Athletics |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Facilities | ||
| Organizations | ||
| Programs | ||
Located in:Cambridge, Massachusetts | ||||||
| Academics |
|  | ||||
| Research | ||||||
| People | ||||||
| Culture | ||||||
| Campus | ||||||
| History | ||||||
| Athletics |
| |||||
| Notable projects | ||||||
Branches ofchemistry | |
|---|---|
| Analytical | |
| Theoretical | |
| Physical | |
| Inorganic | |
| Organic | |
| Biological | |
| Interdisciplinarity | |
| See also | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
