Percy Lavon Julian | |
|---|---|
_portrait.jpg) Julianc. 1940–1968 | |
| Born | (1899-04-11)April 11, 1899 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | April 19, 1975(1975-04-19) (aged 76) Waukegan, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | DePauw University(B.A.) Harvard University(M.S.) University of Vienna(Ph.D) |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | Howard University |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernst Späth |
Percy Lavon Julian (April 11, 1899 – April 19, 1975) was an American researchchemist and a pioneer in thechemical synthesis of medicinaldrugs from plants.[1] Julian was the first person to synthesize the natural productphysostigmine, and a pioneer in industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormonesprogesterone andtestosterone fromplant sterols such asstigmasterol andsitosterol. His work laid the foundation for thesteroid drug industry's production ofcortisone, othercorticosteroids, and artificial hormones that led tobirth control pills.[2][3][4]
Julian started his own company to synthesize steroid intermediates from wildMexican yams. His work helped to greatly reduce the cost of steroid intermediates to large multinational pharmaceutical companies. This significantly expanded the use of several important drugs, including synthetic cortisone.[5][6] Julian was one of the firstAfrican Americans to be allowed to earn a doctorate inchemistry. He was the first African-Americanchemist inducted into theNational Academy of Sciences, and the second African-American scientist, afterDavid Blackwell, inducted into the organization from any field.[5] Throughout his career, Julian received over 130 patents.[7]
Percy Lavon Julian was born on April 11, 1899, inMontgomery, Alabama,[8] as the first child of six born to James Sumner Julian and Elizabeth Lena Adams Julian. Both of his parents were graduates of what was to beAlabama State University. His father, James was employed as a clerk in the Railway Service of theUnited States Post Office, and his mother Elizabeth was a schoolteacher.[9][10]
At a time when access to an education beyond the eighth grade was extremely rare for African Americans, Julian's parents steered all of their children toward higher education. Julian attendedDePauw University inGreencastle, Indiana. The college accepted few African-American students. The segregated nature of the town subjected him to social humiliations. He was not allowed to live in a college dormitory and first stayed in an off-campus boarding home, which refused to serve him meals. It took him days before he found an establishment where he could eat. He later found work firing the furnace, waiting tables, and doing other odd jobs in afraternity house; in return, he was allowed to sleep in the attic and eat at the house. Julian graduated from DePauw in 1920 as aPhi Beta Kappa andvaledictorian.[11]
By 1930, his father had moved the family toGreencastle so that all his children could attend DePauw. He still worked as a railroad postal clerk.[12] James owned his own home, valued at $3,000 (approximately $56,000 today).[citation needed] After graduating from DePauw, Julian wanted to obtain his doctorate in chemistry, but learned it would be difficult for an African American to do so. Instead, he obtained a position as a chemistry instructor atFisk University. In 1923 he received an Austin Fellowship in Chemistry, which allowed him to attendHarvard University to obtain hisM.S. However, worried that white students would resent being taught by an African American, Harvard withdrew Julian'steaching assistantship, making it impossible for him to complete his Ph.D. there.
In 1929, while an instructor atHoward University, Julian received aRockefeller Foundation fellowship to continue his graduate work at theUniversity of Vienna, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1931. He studied underErnst Späth and was considered an impressive student. Europe gave him freedom from the racial prejudices that had stifled him in the States. He freely participated in intellectual social gatherings, attended the opera, and found greater acceptance among his peers.[13][14] Julian was one of the first African Americans to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry, afterSt. Elmo Brady andEdward M.A. Chandler.[5][15]
After returning fromVienna, Julian taught for one year at Howard University. At Howard, in part due to his position as a department head, Julian became caught up in university politics, setting off a chain of scandals. At university presidentMordecai Wyatt Johnson's request,[16] he goaded white professor of chemistry Jacob Shohan (Ph.D., Harvard[17]), into resigning.[18][19] In late May 1932, Shohan retaliated by releasing to the local African-American newspaper the letters Julian had written to him from Vienna. The letters described "a variety of subjects from wine, pretty Viennese women, music and dances, to chemical experiments and plans for the new chemical building."[18] In the letters, he spoke with familiarity, and some derision, of members of the Howard University faculty, calling one well-known dean an "ass (also known as adonkey)".[18][20]
Around this same time, Julian also became entangled in an interpersonal conflict with his laboratory assistant, Robert Thompson. Julian had recommended Thompson for dismissal in March 1932.[21] Thompson sued Julian for "alienating the affections of his wife",[18] Anna Roselle Thompson, stating he had seen them together in a sexual tryst. Julian counter-sued him for libel. When Thompson was fired, he too gave the paper intimate and personal letters which Julian had written to him from Vienna. Julian's letters revealed "how he fooled the [Howard] president into accepting his plans for the chemistry building"[20] and "how he bluffed his good friend into appointing" a professor of Julian's liking.[20] Through the summer of 1932, theBaltimore Afro-American published all of Julian's letters. Eventually, the scandal and accompanying pressure forced Julian to resign.[5] At the lowest point in Julian's career, his former mentor, William Martin Blanchard, a professor of chemistry at DePauw, threw him a much-needed lifeline. Blanchard offered Julian a position to teachorganic chemistry at DePauw in 1932. Julian then helped Josef Pikl, a fellow student at the University of Vienna, to come to the United States to work with him at DePauw. In 1935, Julian and Pikl completed thetotal synthesis ofphysostigmine and confirmed the structural formula assigned to it.Robert Robinson ofOxford University in the U.K. had been the first to publish a synthesis of physostigmine, but Julian noticed that the quoted melting point of Robinson's end product was incorrect, indicating that he had not created it. When Julian completed his synthesis, the melting point matched the correct one for natural physostigmine from thecalabar bean.[5] Julian also extractedstigmasterol, which took its name fromPhysostigma venenosum, the west Africancalabar bean that he hoped could serve as raw material for the synthesis of human steroidal hormones. At about this time, in 1934, Butenandt and Fernholz, in Germany,[22][23] had shown that stigmasterol, isolated from soybean oil, could be converted toprogesterone by synthetic organic chemistry.
In 1936 Julian was denied a professorship at DePauw for racial reasons.DuPont offered a job to Pikl, but declined to hire Julian, despite his superlative qualifications as an organic chemist, apologizing that they were "unaware he was black".[11] Julian next applied for a job at theInstitute of Paper Chemistry inAppleton, Wisconsin. However, Appleton was asundown town, forbidding African Americans from staying overnight, explicitly stating "No Negro should be a bed or boarded overnight in Appleton."[24] Meanwhile, Julian had written to theGlidden Company, a supplier of soybean oil products, to request a five-gallon sample of the oil to use as his starting point for the synthesis of human steroidal sex hormones (in part because his wife was experiencinginfertility).[citation needed] After receiving the request, W. J. O'Brien, a vice-president at Glidden, telephoned Julian, offering him the position of director of research at Glidden's Soya Products Division in Chicago. He was very likely offered the job by O'Brien because he was fluent in German, and Glidden had just purchased a modern continuous countercurrent solvent extraction plant from Germany for the extraction of vegetable oil from soybeans for paints and other uses.[5]
Julian supervised the assembly of the plant at Glidden when he arrived in 1936. He then designed and supervised the construction of the world's first plant for the production of industrial-grade, isolatedsoy protein from oil-free soybean meal. Isolated soy protein could replace the more expensive milkcasein in industrial applications such as coating and sizing of paper, glue for making Douglas fir plywood, and in the manufacture of water-based paints. At the start of World War II, Glidden sent a sample of Julian's isolated soy protein to National Foam System Inc. (today a unit ofKidde Fire Fighting), which used it to develop Aer-O-Foam,[25][26] the U.S. Navy's firefighting "bean soup." While it was not exactly Julian's brainchild, his meticulous care in the preparation of the soy protein made thefirefighting foam possible. When ahydrolyzate of isolated soy protein was fed into a water stream, the mixture was converted into a foam by means of an aerating nozzle. The soy protein foam was used to smother oil and gasoline fires aboard ships and was particularly useful on aircraft carriers. It has saved the lives of thousands of sailors and airmen.[26] Citing this achievement, in 1947 theNAACP awarded Julian theSpingarn Medal, its highest honor. The 1943United States Office of War Information filmFood for Fighters features Julian as the soy expert when describing the inclusion of soy to boost the nutrition ofK-rations.[27]
Percy's research at Glidden changed direction in 1940 when he began work on synthesizingprogesterone,estrogen, andtestosterone from theplant sterolsstigmasterol andsitosterol, isolated from soybean oil by afoam technique he invented and patented.[2][28] At that time, clinicians were discovering many uses for the newly discovered hormones. However, only minute quantities could be extracted from hundreds of pounds of animal spinal cords. In 1940, Julian was able to produce 100 pounds (45 kg) of mixed soysterols daily, which had a value of $10,000 ($105,000 today)[29] as sex hormones. Julian was soonozonizing 100 pounds (45 kg) daily of mixed steroldibromides. The soy stigmasterol was easily converted into commercial quantities of the female hormoneprogesterone, and the first pound of progesterone that he produced, valued at $63,500 ($668,000 today),[29] was shipped to buyerUpjohn[30] in an armored car.[4] Production of other sex hormones soon followed.[31]
His work made possible the production of these hormones on a larger industrial scale, with the potential of reducing the cost of treating hormonal deficiencies. Julian and his co-workers obtained patents for Glidden on key processes for the preparation of progesterone and testosterone from soybean plant sterols. Product patents held by a former cartel of European pharmaceutical companies had prevented a significant reduction in wholesale and retail prices for clinical use of these hormones in the 1940s. He saved many lives with this discovery.[32][33][34] On April 13, 1949,rheumatologistPhilip Hench at theMayo Clinic announced the dramatic effectiveness ofcortisone in treatingrheumatoid arthritis. The cortisone was produced byMerck at great expense using a complex 36-step synthesis developed by chemistLewis Sarett, starting withdeoxycholic acid from cattlebile acids. On September 30, 1949, Julian announced an improved process for producing cortisone.[35][36][37][38] This eliminated the use ofosmium tetroxide, which was rare and expensive.[35] By 1950, Glidden could begin producing closely related compounds which might have partial cortisone activity. Julian also announced the synthesis, starting with the cheap and readily availablepregnenolone (synthesized from the soybean oil sterolstigmasterol) of the steroidcortexolone (also known asReichstein's Substance S, and most often referred as11-Deoxycortisol[39]), a molecule that differed from cortisone by a single missing oxygen atom; and possibly17α-hydroxyprogesterone and pregnenetriolone, which he hoped might also be effective in treatingrheumatoid arthritis,[35][36][37][38][40] but unfortunately they were not.[38]
On April 5, 1952,biochemist Durey Peterson andmicrobiologist Herbert Murray atUpjohn published the first report of afermentation process for the microbial 11α-oxygenation of steroids in a single step (by commonmolds of the orderMucorales). Their fermentation process could produce 11α-hydroxyprogesterone or 11α-hydrocortisone from progesterone or Compound S, respectively, which could then by further chemical steps be converted to cortisone or 11β-hydrocortisone (cortisol).[41] After two years, Glidden abandoned production of cortisone to concentrate on Substance S. Julian developed a multistep process for conversion ofpregnenolone, available in abundance from soybean oil sterols, tocortexolone. In 1952, Glidden, which had been producing progesterone and other steroids from soybean oil, shut down its own production and began importing them from Mexico through an arrangement with Diosynth (a small Mexican company founded in 1947 byRussell Marker after leavingSyntex). Glidden's cost of production ofcortexolone was relatively high, so Upjohn decided to use progesterone, available in large quantity at low cost from Syntex, to produce cortisone and hydrocortisone.[38]
In 1953, Glidden decided to leave the steroid business, which had been relatively unprofitable over the years despite Julian's innovative work.[42] On December 1, 1953, Julian left Glidden after 18 years, giving up a salary of nearly $50,000 a year (equivalent to $590,000 in 2024)[29] to found his own company, Julian Laboratories, Inc., taking over the small, concrete-block building of Suburban Chemical Company inFranklin Park, Illinois.[43][44][45] On December 2, 1953,Pfizer acquired exclusive licenses of Glidden patents for the synthesis of Substance S. Pfizer had developed a fermentation process for microbial 11β-oxygenation of steroids in a single step that could convert Substance S directly to 11β-hydrocortisone (cortisol), with Syntex undertaking large-scale production ofcortexolone at very low cost.[38]
Around 1950, Julian moved his family to theChicago suburb ofOak Park, becoming the first African-American family to reside there.[46] Although some residents welcomed them, there was also opposition. Before they moved in, onThanksgiving Day, 1950, their home was firebombed. Later, after they moved in, the house was attacked with dynamite on June 12, 1951. The attacks galvanized the community, and a community group was formed to support the Julians.[47] Julian's son later recounted that during these times, he and his father often kept watch over the family's property by sitting on the front porch with a shotgun.[5]
Julian's new research firm, Julian Laboratories, Inc., hired many of his best chemists, including African-Americans and women, from Glidden. He won a contract to provide Upjohn with $2 million worth ofprogesterone (equivalent to $21 million today).[29] To compete againstSyntex, he would have to use the sameMexican yam, obtained from theMexican barbasco trade, as his starting material. Julian used his own money and borrowed from friends to build a processing plant in Mexico, but he could not get a permit from the government to harvest the yams. Abraham Zlotnik, a former Jewish University of Vienna classmate whom Julian had helped escape from the Holocaust, led a search to find a new yam source in Guatemala for the company.
In July 1956, Julian and executives of two other American companies trying to enter the Mexican steroid intermediates market appeared before a U.S. Senate subcommittee. They testified that Syntex was using undue influence to monopolize access to the Mexican yam.[34][48] The hearings resulted in Syntex signing aconsent decree with theU.S. Justice Department. While it did not admit to restraining trade, it promised not to do so in the future.[34] Within five years, large Americanmultinationalpharmaceutical companies had acquired all six producers of steroid intermediates in Mexico, four of which had been Mexican-owned.[34] Syntex reduced the cost of steroid intermediates more than 250-fold over twelve years, from $80 per gram in 1943 to $0.31 per gram in 1955.[34][48] Competition from Upjohn andGeneral Mills, which had together made very substantial improvements in the production of progesterone from stigmasterol, forced the price of Mexican progesterone down to less than $0.15 per gram in 1957. The price continued to fall, bottoming out at $0.08 per gram in 1968.[34][38]
In 1958, Upjohn purchased 6,900 kg of progesterone from Syntex at $0.135 per gram, 6,201 kg of progesterone fromSearle (who had acquired Pesa) at $0.143 per gram, 5,150 kg of progesterone from Julian Laboratories at $0.14 per gram, and 1,925 kg of progesterone from General Mills (who had acquired Protex) at $0.142 per gram.[49] Despite continually falling bulk prices of steroid intermediates, an oligopoly of large American multinational pharmaceutical companies kept the wholesale prices of corticosteroid drugs fixed and unchanged into the 1960s. Cortisone was fixed at $5.48 per gram from 1954,hydrocortisone at $7.99 per gram from 1954, andprednisone at $35.80 per gram from 1956.[34][49]Merck andRoussel Uclaf concentrated on improving the production of corticosteroids from cattle bile acids. In 1960 Roussel produced almost one-third of the world's corticosteroids from bile acids.[38] Julian Laboratories chemists found a way to quadruple the yield on a product on which they were barely breaking even. Julian reduced their price per kg for the product from $4,000 to $400.[5] He sold the company in 1961 for $2.3 million (equivalent to $24 million today) and became one of the first black millionaires.[29] The U.S. and Mexico facilities were purchased bySmith Kline, and Julian's chemical plant in Guatemala was purchased by Upjohn.
In 1964, Julian founded Julian Associates and Julian Research Institute, which he managed for the rest of his life.[50] Julian also helped to found the Legal Defense and Educational Fund of Chicago.[51] Julian died ofliver cancer in Waukegan, Illinois on April 19, 1975, a week after his 76th birthday.[52]
On December 24, 1935, he marriedAnna Roselle (Ph.D. in sociology, 1937,University of Pennsylvania). They had two children: Percy Lavon Julian Jr. (August 31, 1940 – February 24, 2008), who became a noted civil rights lawyer inMadison, Wisconsin;[53] and Faith Roselle Julian (born 1944), who still resides in their Oak Park home and often makes inspirational speeches about her father and his contributions to science.[54]
Ruben Santiago-Hudson portrayed Percy Julian in thePublic Broadcasting Service Nova documentary about his life, called "Forgotten Genius". It was presented on the PBS network on February 6, 2007, sponsored by theCamille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation with further funding by theNational Endowment for the Humanities. Approximately sixty of Julian's family members, friends, and work associates were interviewed for the docudrama.[5][70] Production on the biopic began in May 2002 at DePauw University's Greencastle campus, where Julian's bust is on display in the atrium of the Percy Lavon Julian Science and Mathematics Center. The completion and broadcast of the documentary was delayed whileNova commissioned and published a companion book on Julian's life.[71] According toUniversity of Illinois historian James Anderson in the film, "His story is a story of great accomplishment, of heroic efforts and overcoming tremendous odds...a story about who we are and what we stand for and the challenges that have been there and the challenges that are still with us."[70]
The Percy Lavon Julian family papers are archived atDePauw University.[72]
Percy L. Julian, associate professor and acting head of the department of chemistry of Howard University, has been awarded his doctorate in chemistry at theUniversity of Vienna, his achievement being a combination of two years' residence abroad and the transfer of graduate credit fromHarvard University.
Nine members of the faculty of the college of liberal arts of Howard University have been granted leaves of absence for graduate study during 1929–1930, and one for two years beginning with the fall of 1929. Percy L. Julian will study organic chemistry and microanalysis at theUniversity of Vienna and atGraz University.
Quote: A new synthesis of cortisone, eliminating the need for expensive osmium tetroxide, and the synthesis of three other compounds related to cortisone, which may possibly be useful in the treatment of arthritis, have been announced by Percy L. Julian, director of research of the soya products division of the Glidden Co., Chicago. No statement was made as to further details of the new synthesis, but it was revealed that soybean products were not involved...all three [other compounds] were made from soybean sterols.
Cortisone has been synthesized81d from bile acids having unsaturation or oxygenation in ring "C" which can give rise to a keto group at C11. Its synthesis from soybean oil sterols has not been reported, but the preparation from these sterols of closely related compounds which may have partial activity has been announced by Julian.81e
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