Purdue News

March 20, 1998 Nobel laureate honored by chemical society, lecture series WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University Nobel laureate Herbert C. Brown will receive double honors the week of March 30 in two separate events. On Tuesday, March 31, the American Chemical Society will present Brown with an award named in his honor to recognize 60 years of contributions in developing new ways to make pharmaceuticals, plastics, paper and other products. Brown is the first recipient of the new Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods, established this year by the American Chemical Society. The award will be presented to him at the organization's national meeting in Dallas. Now a professor emeritus at Purdue, Brown is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of synthetic organic chemistry. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979 for his work in hydroboration and organoboranes. In announcing the award, the American Chemical Society noted that in 1936, when Brown graduated from college, little was known about chemical compounds called boron hydrides. Unlike their relations, hydrocarbons, boron-based compounds do not exist in nature. In the next few decades after his graduation, Brown opened an entirely new field of chemistry based on boron. By the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize, virtually every major synthesis involved one of his compounds. "To this day, organoboranes are the first and only general method to synthesize a single, pure mirror image of a molecule for a pharmaceutical drug," Brown said. Another compound, called sodium borohydride, solved a major ecological problem: It replaced a zinc compound used to bleach paper pulp that killed fish when released in wastewater. The Herbert C. Brown Award is sponsored by Aldrich Chemical Co. Inc. of Milwaukee. On Saturday, April 4, Brown will oversee a series of lectures on new developments in organic synthesis during the 15th annual Herbert C. Brown Lecture Series in Organic Chemistry at Purdue. The lecture series, free and open to the public, was established in 1984 to honor Brown and to provide an ongoing forum for faculty and students interested in current topics in organic chemistry. Lectures and research presentations will begin at 9 a.m. in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center. Further information on the lecture series is available from Minnie Coree, Department of Chemistry, (765) 494-5300. CONTACT: Susan Gaidos, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2081; e-mail, susan_gaidos@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page