William Standish Knowles

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
William Standish Knowles
Monsanto Company
ThesisA preliminary investigation of the constituents of Astragalus wootoni. Β-substituted-Δα, Β-butenolides of the naphthalene, indene and norcholane series (1942)
Doctoral advisorRobert Elderfield

William Standish Knowles (June 1, 1917 – June 13, 2012) was an American

oxidation reactions.[1]

Education

Knowles attended Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He led his class academically and upon graduation was admitted to Harvard University. Feeling that he was too young to go to college, Knowles spent a year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. At the end of the year, he captured his first award in chemistry, the school's $50 Boylston Prize.[2]

After his year in

preparatory school, Knowles attended Harvard, where he majored in chemistry, focusing on organic chemistry. He received his undergraduate degree in 1939, and attended Columbia University for graduate school.[2]

Awards and honors

Nobel Prize

He shared half of the

phosphine ligands. This experimental catalyst was effective for enantioselective synthesis, achieving a modest 15% enantiomeric excess
.

Knowles was also the first to apply enantioselective metal catalysis to industrial-scale synthesis; while working for the

Monsanto Company he developed an enantioselective hydrogenation step for the production of L-DOPA, utilising the DIPAMP ligand.[6][7]

Synthesis of L-DOPA via hydrogenation with C2-symmetric diphosphine.

Personal life

Following his retirement in 1986, Knowles resided in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. In retirement he restored native prairie grasses on a 100-acre farm that his wife had inherited. He was married to his wife, Nancy, for 66 years and had four children, Elizabeth, Peter, Sarah and Lesley. He also had four grandchildren. Knowles died in Chesterfield on June 13, 2012, at age 95. He and his wife had previously stated that their farm would be donated to be converted into a city park after their deaths.[8]

References

  1. PMID 16286647
    .
  2. ^ a b "William S. Knowles – Autobiography". The Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
  3. ^ "Chemical Pioneer Award". American Institute of Chemists. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  4. ^ David M. Isserman / Isserman Consulting LLC / www.isserman.com (2012-04-19). "Academy of Science – St. Louis :: Academy Initiatives :: Outstanding St. Louis Scientists Awards". Academyofsciencestl.org. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-07-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. doi:10.1021/ja00460a018
    .
  7. doi:10.1002/1521-3773(20020617)41:12<1998::AID-ANIE1998>3.0.CO;2-8
    .
  8. ^ "William Knowles, Nobel Winner in Chemistry, Dies at 95". The New York Times. June 15, 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Standish_Knowles&oldid=1219224739"