Nobel Laureate to Give Fry Lecture

Organic chemist Robert H. Grubbs, California Institute of Technology, is the 12th speaker in the Arthur Fry Lecture Series.

Robert Grubbs won the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on catalysis, which has led to a wide variety of applications in medicine and industry. The joint award was shared with Yves Chauvin, Institut Français du Pétrole, Rueil-Malmaison, France, and Richard R. Schrock Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis.

According to the Nobel citation, metathesis can be compared to a dance in which the couples change partners. Metathesis is used daily in the chemical industry, mainly in the development of pharmaceuticals and of advanced plastic materials. Thanks to the Laureates’ contributions, synthesis methods have been developed that are more efficient, simpler to use and environmentally friendlier. This represents a great step forward for “green chemistry”, reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production. Metathesis is an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society and the environment.

Grubbs is the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry in the division of chemistry and chemical engineering at Cal Tech, where he has been since 1978. He has been extensively published and has received numerous honors including the Fluka Prize - Reagent of the Year and the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry. In 2009, he received the Award for Creative Invention by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Other ACS awards are the National Award in Organometallic Chemistry, the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods, the Arthur C. Cope Award and the Award for Creative Research in Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Catalysis. 

A Kentucky native, he obtained his doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida. He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University and was on the faculty at Michigan State University.

The 2009 Fry Lecture “The Synthesis of Large and Small Molecules Using Olefin Metathesis Catalysts,” is at a special time and location Monday, April 13 at 4 p.m. in CHEM 132. A reception will be after the lecture in CHEM 105.

The event is open to the public.


The Nobel Prize in Chemistry

In 1901 the very first Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Jacobus H. van ’t Hoff for his work on rates of reaction, chemical equilibrium, and osmotic pressure. In more recent years, the Chemistry Nobel Laureates have increased our understanding of chemical processes and their molecular basis, and have also contributed to many of the technological advancements we enjoy today.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/%20chemistry/

Above photo courtesy of Caltech.