52: Making It
02/05/23 • 19 min
We look at the progress organic chemist Robert Woodward achieved in the 20th century in organic synthesis, that is, creating from scratch all sorts of natural products. His first success was during World War II in synthesizing quinine. Then he was able to create strychnine, cholesterol, cortisone, lysergic acid, reserpine, chlorophyll, cephalosporin, and colchicine. These syntheses took a dozen to two dozen separate chemical reactions. His pinnacle of synthesis was the 1972 co-creation of Vitamin B12. We look at one of the most important mid-20th-century theoretical results of his work: the Woodward-Hoffman rules, co-invented with Holocaust survivor Roald Hoffman. Patreon supporters can download a supplemental sheet to show some diagrams of these molecules.
- Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
- Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
- Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook
We look at the progress organic chemist Robert Woodward achieved in the 20th century in organic synthesis, that is, creating from scratch all sorts of natural products. His first success was during World War II in synthesizing quinine. Then he was able to create strychnine, cholesterol, cortisone, lysergic acid, reserpine, chlorophyll, cephalosporin, and colchicine. These syntheses took a dozen to two dozen separate chemical reactions. His pinnacle of synthesis was the 1972 co-creation of Vitamin B12. We look at one of the most important mid-20th-century theoretical results of his work: the Woodward-Hoffman rules, co-invented with Holocaust survivor Roald Hoffman. Patreon supporters can download a supplemental sheet to show some diagrams of these molecules.
- Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
- Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
- Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook
Previous Episode
51: Let's Take a Field Trip
We learn about developments in 20th-century theoretical inorganic chemistry, starting with coordination complexes as explained by Christian Blomstrand, Sophus Jørgensen, and Alfred Werner. Theory from a quantum-chemical perspective began with Jean Becquerel and Hans Bethe and "Crystal Field Theory." We then look at John Griffith and Leslie Orgel's "Ligand Field Theory." From classical complexes and their multitude of shapes, we move to organometallic complexes and bioinorganic complexes. The last topic of the episode is the discovery of ferrocene in 1951, and the weird shape the molecule has.
- Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
- Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
- Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook
Next Episode
53: Beads on a String
This episode discusses the mid-20th-century discovery of the structure of proteins. We discuss Mikhail Tsvet's invention of chromatography and Frederick Sanger's revealing of the specific sequence of amino acids in proteins. Then we hear of Vincent du Vigneaud's synthesis of oxytocin and vasopressin, both small proteins. Max Perutz's work on adding heavy metals to proteins to get x ray diffraction helped scientists figure out protein structures. John Kendrew then used a digital computer to extract a structure from an x ray diffraction image. Finally we learn about Christian Anfinsen's work on protein folding and thermodynamics of folding.
- Support my podcast at https://www.patreon.com/thehistoryofchemistry
- Tell me how your life relates to chemistry! E-mail me at [email protected]
- Get my book, O Mg! How Chemistry Came to Be, from World Scientific Publishing, https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12670#t=aboutBook
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