Thomas Bruice
Thomas C. Bruice | |
---|---|
Born | August 25, 1925 |
Died | February 15, 2019 | (aged 93)
Nationality | American |
Education | University of Southern California (B.S., Ph.D.) |
Known for | Use of imidazole-catalysed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate as a model system |
Awards | NAS Award in Chemical Sciences |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Bioorganic chemistry, enzyme catalysis |
Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, University of California, Santa Barbara |
Thomas C. Bruice (August 25, 1925 – February 15, 2019)
Education
Bruice earned his B.S. at the University of Southern California, and returned there after his service as a Marine medical corpsman during the World War II island campaigns in the South Pacific, and obtained his Ph.D. there.[1] He carried out post-doctoral work at University of California, Los Angeles. He has been a faculty member at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University.[2] He joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1964.
Research
Papers
Bruice published more than 600 papers during his career. He saw himself as a bioorganic chemist rather than as a biochemist, and that description is very apt for his work, as most of the molecules that he studied were natural products such as thyroxine.[4] In addition, he made important contributions to understanding enzyme catalysis, and he pioneered the use of imidazole-catalysed hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate as a model system.[5] (This system has the practical advantage that it is very convenient to follow the hydrolysis spectrophotometically.) He also stied[check spelling] a similar reaction catalysed by the enzyme ribonuclease.[6] More generally, he made a study of mechanisms for chymotrypsin catalysis.,[7] and in particular the "charge-relay" system as a way of understanding the role of the catalytic triad that exists in such enzymes.[8] He considered that "orbital steering" was a new name for a well established observation.[9][10]
Reviews
Bruice wrote reviews on a number of topics, including the use of small molecules to understand catalysis [11] and the chemistry of flavins,[12][13] and on enzyme catalysis in general.[14]
Books
Bruice collaborated with Stephen Benkovic to write a two-volume work on Bioorganic Mechanisms that helped establish this field.[15]
Awards and honors
- 2008 - Linus Pauling Award[16]
- 2005 - NAS Award in Chemical Sciences[17][18]
- 1978 - Tolman Award[19]
References
- ^ PMID 31636196.
- ^ a b "2008 Pauling Award Symposium". The University of British Columbia. 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ^ "Dr. Thomas C. Bruice, Bio-Organic Chemistry Pioneer". The LACC Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- PMID 13328119.
- PMID 13355478.
- PMID 6045612.
- PMID 13873928.
- PMID 4833707.
- PMID 16590620.
- PMID 16591915.
- PMID 786153.
- .
- .
- PMID 10828939.
- ^ Bruice, T.C.; Benkovic, S.J. (1966). Bioorganic Mechanisms. New York: Benjamin, Inc.
- ^ "Linus Pauling Medalists". Portland State University. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "About the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ^ "Academy Honors 17 for Major Contributions to Science". The National Academy of Sciences. 26 January 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
- ^ "SCALACS Tolman Awards". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 23 April 2014.