R. B. Woodward

The Man, the Myth, the Legend

One of the bloggers that I draw my material from is B.R.S.M., a gifted chemist originally from the UK.  He has a feature titled "Woodward Wednesdays" that features an article by the brilliant R. B. Woodward.  I hadn't a clue who that was, but after looking him up (Wikipedia is wonderful), I realized that I and you should know who he is and what he's done.

Why is Woodward so important? He practically created the field of organic synthesis.  Doing most of his work in the 1940's and 50's, he has been described as "the preeminent organic chemist of the twentieth century," and no one seems to disagree.  He synthesized quinine, cortisol, cholesterol, chlorophyll, and many more.  He is the reason many chemists look for elegance in their syntheses.  (The subject of what makes a synthesis "elegant" is sure to be the subject of a future post.)  He published over 85 papers, some having to be published after his death because of the blindingly fast pace he set for himself.  He won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, not for any one molecule, but for his "synthesis of many complex organic molecules."  Some say he should have won more.  Because of his great contributions to the field of organic chemistry, I chose as my moniker the name of "Woodward".  Should I not aspire to great things?

Read more on Woodward here.

-Woodward