R. B. Woodward

1917:

Robert Burns Woodward was born in Boston, USA.
1933: He started studying at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1934: In the fall term of this year he was excluded from the college due to not attending formal lectures.
1935: In the fall term he was allowed to re-enroll at the college.
1936: He took his first degree and became a Bachelor of Science.
1937: He completed further studying and became a Doctor of Philosophy.
1937: Woodward started working at Harvard University as a Postdoctoral fellow.
At Harvard he became: a member of the Society of Fellows (1938 - 1940),
an Instructor in Chemistry (1941 - 1944
an Assistant Professor (1944 - 1946),
an Associate Professor (1946 - 1950),
a Professor (1950 - 1953)
a Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry (1953 -1960)
and then a Donner Professor of Science (from 1960 until his death)


1965: Woodward was awarded a Nobel prize in Chemistry for his achievements.
1974: Woodward was involved in the controversy over the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Ernst Fischer and Geoffrey Wilkinson. Woodward believed his contributions in the study of organometallic sandwich compound should also have been recognized.
1979 After a lifetime of great achievements, Woodward died in the July of this year.

During his life, Woodward often admitted his love for organic chemistry. This interest could be seem though his work and research. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry which he received in 1965 was mainly for his contribution to the chemical synthesis:
  • quinine (1944),
  • patulin (1950),
  • Cholestrol (1951),
  • cortisone (1951)
  • strychrine (1954)
  • lysergic acid (1954),
  • lanosterol (1954),
  • reserpine (1956),
  • chlorophyll (1960),
  • tetracycline (1962).

One predominant achievement Woodward made during his life was the chemical synthesis of quinine. He did not do this alone he worked with another chemist named William Doering. It had been approximately eighty years since Perkin had tried to produce quinine synthetically and failed. Before this synthetic route being found quinine had been obtained from the bark of cinchona trees, but these trees would only grow in tropical climates. Now using this newly found synthetic method it would be possible to produce quinine on a much larger scale.

Woodward was involved in many great discoveries, for then he received many awards. Also during his life he received twenty honorary degrees from different Universities around the world.