1979Nobel Prize

Laureate

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Outline

3HERBERT C. BROWN

Family Background and Early Childhood

•Also known as Herbert Charles Brovarnik • born on May 22, 1912 in London• 2nd child of Charles Brovarnik and Pearl Gorenstein •has 3 sisters (Ann, Sophie and Riva)•his family moved to Chicago in 1914 •His father is a trained cabinet maker but turned to carpentry (little market of skills in the US)•US depression in 1920 persuaded his father to go to business (opened small hardware store)

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Education

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•Went to Englewood High School for secondary education and graduated in 1930 • He ran the humor column of the school paper and won a national prize(*)• Entered at Crane Junior College (BS Electrical Engineering)• Got fascinated with Chemistry•After one semester, Crane Junior College got closed (lack of funds)•Attend night classes at Lewis Institute taking one or two courses (self supporting, worked as part time shoe clerk, packer of notebook paper and belts)• Invited by Dr. Nicholas Cheronis to do experimental work at “Synthetical Laboratories”

Education • Attended Haven School at Wabash Chicago and graduated at 12 with excellent standing•Offered with further advancement but refused to accept it (did not want to be in the same class with his sister Ann)

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Took competitive examination for scholarship at University of Chicago

• Entered University of Chicago in 1935 HCB took ten courses; regular is three (stipend is 100/sem)

• Finished junior and senior years within three quarters• Received the BS degree in 1936 and a book entitled “The

Hydrides of Boron and Silicon (Alfred Stock)”• Convinced by Julius Steiglitz to pursue graduate education • Worked on reactions of carbonyl compounds with diborane

(B2H6) • Received PhD degree in 1938

Education •In 1934, attended Wright Junior College and graduated in 1935 together with Sarah• Sarah autograhed his yearbook ,“To the future Nobel Laureate….”

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• Met and love Sarah Baylen --- the brightest student in chemistry at Crane prior to HCB,s arrival.

• Sarah initially “hated the guts” of HCB since she could not beat him

• Became lovers

Romantic L ve Story

•Marriage could no longer wait!•Got married ”secretly” in February 6, 1937• Had to support Sarah HOW?

graduate assistant stipend/year was $400; $300 goes to tuition

• Sarah got a position at Billings Hospital in Medical Chemistry •Gifted with a son, Charles Brown (Chemist with Hitachi )•Marriage lasted for more than 67 years

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Post Graduate Studies & Researches

Drive: He could NOT find any industrial position

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

•Prof. M.S. Kharasch offered a postdoctorate scholarship (1938)

Work on possible chlorosulfonation of hydrocarbons with sulfuryl chloride (preparation of detergents)

Published 10 papers

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•Invited by Prof. Schlesinger to become research assistant • wartime research project (World War II)

•Synthesize Uranium borohydride using diborane

•Problem: diborane preparation is very slow and expensive!!!

•Synthesize diborane from NaBH4 and boron trihalide

•Synthesis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4), important reducing agent (*)

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WAYNE UNIVERSITY (WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY)

Given by Neil Gordon assistant professorship position at (1946)

Studied on steric effectsThe non-classical ion problem A quantitative theory of aromatic substitution

and basic properties of aromatic compounds

Post Graduate Studies & Researches

PURDUE UNIVERSITYInvited by Henry B. Hass (1947) Inorganic Professor (1947) Wetherill Distinguished Professor (1959) Emeritus (1978)

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Contribution Worth a Nobel Prize

Organoboranes - are organic derivatives of

borane (BH3)

- produced through hydroboration

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Uses of the ORGANOBORANES in organic synthesis seem almost LIMITLESS!!!!

Uses of Organoboranes

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• Herbert Charles Brown Received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shared the prize with George Wittig (Wittig Reaction)

The 1979 NOBEL PRIZE

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• William H. Nichols

Medal 195• ACS Award for Creative

Research 1960• ACS Linus Pauling

Medal 1968•  National Medal of Science

 1969• ACS Roger Adams

Medal 1971•  ACS Charles Frederick

Chandler Medal 1973• ACS Madison Marshall

Award 1975• Elliott Cresson Gold Medal

of the Franklin Institute 1978

• Sir William H. Perkin Medal 1982

Awards

•Priestley Medal 1981•AIC Gold Medal 1985• NAS Award in Chemical Sciences 1987• Order of the Rising Sun 1987, with Gold and Silver Star• ACS Ralph and Helen Oesper Award 1990• ACS Herbert C. Brown Award 1998

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Books and Publications• HCB has published more than a thousand scientific papers•Hydroboration (1962, chemistry)•Boranes in Organic Chemistry (1972, chemistry)•Organic Syntheses via Boranes (1975, chemistry)•The Nonclassical Ion Problem (1976, chemistry)•Aspects of Mechanism and Organometallic•Chemistry (1978, chemistry; with James H. Brewster)•Hydroboration (1979, chemistry)•Herbert C. Brown: A Life in Chemistry (1980, collected papers)•Borane Reagents (1988, chemistry; with Andrew Pelter and Keith Smith)

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H.C. Brown as a Mentor and as a Person …

1.A GOOD COUNSELOR2.NOT A “SLAVE DRIVER”

----- TIME IS YOUR OWN3.CARING and LOVING4. GENEROUS 5. HAPPY

HCB and Sarah demonstrated that with raw capability, dedication and eternal optimism, a man and a woman together can make remarkable achievements, become happier with time and beyond, and become rich enough to return part of their wealth to the community.

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Late Life and Death

• Retired in 1978 as R.B. Wetherill Professor Emeritus

• Two buildings named after him Brown Building

Herbert C. Brown Laboratories of Chemistry

• At 92, died on December 19, 2004 from heart attack

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It is evident that Professor Herbert C. Brown has discovered a new continent in chemistry. However, he said

“We have been moving rapidly over that continent, scouting out the major mountain ranges, river valleys, lakes, and coasts. But it is evident that we have only scratched the surface. It will require another generation of chemists to settle that continent and to utilize it for the good of mankind.”

----- Herbert C. Brown

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