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Robert Curl

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Robert Curl
Robert Floyd Curl Jr.
Curl in 2009
Born(1933-08-23)August 23, 1933
Alice, Texas,U.S.
DiedJuly 3, 2022(2022-07-03)(aged 88)
Houston, Texas,U.S.
Alma materRice Institute,BS;University of California, Berkeley,PhD
Known forThe discovery offullerenes
AwardsNobel Prize in Chemistryin 1996. Cross-cultural ambassador at Sorbonne University UNESCO Club
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsRice University,Harvard University
ThesisSome spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties of molecules(1957)
Doctoral advisorKenneth Pitzer
Doctoral studentsLihong V. Wang
James L. Kinsey

Robert Floyd Curl Jr.(August 23, 1933 – July 3, 2022) was an American chemist who was Pitzer–Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences and professor of chemistry atRice University.[1]He was awarded theNobel Prize in Chemistryin 1996 for the discovery of thenanomaterialbuckminsterfullerene,and hence thefullereneclass of materials, along withRichard Smalley(also of Rice University) andHarold Krotoof theUniversity of Sussex.

Early life and education

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Born inAlice, Texas,United States, Curl was the son of aMethodistminister.[2][3]Due to his father's missionary work, his family moved several times within southern and southwestern Texas, and the elder Curl was involved in starting the San Antonio Medical Center's Methodist Hospital.[4][5]Curl attributes his interest in chemistry to achemistry sethe received as a nine-year-old, recalling that he ruined the finish on his mother's porcelain stove whennitric acidboiled over onto it.[6]He is a graduate ofThomas Jefferson High SchoolinSan Antonio, Texas.[7]His high school offered only one year of chemistry instruction, but in his senior year his chemistry teacher gave him special projects to work on.[5]

Curl received aBachelor of SciencefromRice Institute(now Rice University) in 1954.[2]He was attracted to the reputation of both the school's academics and football team, and the fact that at the time it charged no tuition.[5]He earned hisdoctoratein chemistry from theUniversity of California, Berkeley,in 1957.[2]At Berkeley, he worked in the laboratory ofKenneth Pitzer,then dean of the college of chemistry, with whom he would become a lifelong collaborator. Curl's graduate research involved performinginfrared spectroscopyto determine thebond angleofdisiloxane.[4][5]

Scientific career

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Curl was a postdoctoral fellow atHarvard UniversitywithE. B. Wilson,where he usedmicrowave spectroscopyto study thebond rotation barriersof molecules.[5]After that, he joined the faculty of Rice University in 1958.[4]He inherited the equipment and graduate students ofGeorge Bird,a professor who was leaving for a job atPolaroid.[6]Curl's early research involved the microwave spectroscopy ofchlorine dioxide.[5]His research program included both experiment and theory, mainly focused on detection and analysis offree radicalsusing microwave spectroscopy and tunable lasers. He used these observations to develop the theory of theirfine structureandhyperfine structure,as well as information about their structure and the kinetics of their reactions.[8]

Nobel Prize

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Curl's research at Rice involved the fields of infrared and microwave spectroscopy.[4]Curl's research inspired Richard Smalley to come to Rice in 1976 with the intention of collaborating with Curl.[9]In 1985, Curl was contacted by Harold Kroto, who wanted to use a laser beam apparatus built by Smalley to simulate and study the formation ofcarbon chainsinred giantstars. Smalley and Curl had previously used this apparatus to studysemiconductorssuch assiliconandgermanium.[4]They were initially reluctant to interrupt their experiments on these semiconductor materials to use their apparatus for Kroto's experiments on carbon, but eventually gave in.[9]

They indeed found the long carbon chains they were looking for, but also found an unexpected product that had 60 carbon atoms.[9]Over the course of 11 days, the team studied and determined its structure and named itbuckminsterfullereneafter noting its similarity to thegeodesic domesfor which the architectBuckminster Fullerwas known.[10]This discovery was based solely on the single prominent peak on themass spectrograph,implying a chemically inert substance that was geometrically closed with nodangling bonds.[11]Curl was responsible for determining the optimal conditions of the carbon vapor in the apparatus, and examining the spectrograph.[4]Curl noted thatJames R. HeathandSean C. O'Briendeserve equal recognition in the work to Smalley and Kroto.[5]The existence of this type of molecule had earlier been theorized by others, but Curl and his colleagues were at the time unaware of this. Later experiments confirmed their proposed structure, and the team moved on to synthesizeendohedral fullerenesthat had a metal atom inside the hollow carbon shell.[11][12][13][14][15]Thefullerenes,a class of molecules of which buckminsterfullerene was the first member discovered, are now considered to have potential applications innanomaterialsandmolecular scale electronics.[9]Robert Curl's 1985 paper entitled "C60: Buckminsterfullerine", published with colleagues H. Kroto, J. R. Heath, S. C. O’Brien, and R. E. Smalley, was honored by a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, presented to Rice University in 2015.[16][17]The discovery of fullerenes was recognized in 2010 by the designation of aNational Historic Chemical Landmarkby theAmerican Chemical Societyat the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University in Houston, Texas.[18]

After winning the Nobel Prize in 1996, Curl took a quieter path than Smalley, who became an outspoken advocate of nanotechnology, and Kroto, who used his fame to further his interest in science education, saying, "After winning a Nobel, you can either become a scientific pontificator, or you can have some idea for a new science project and you can use your newfound notoriety to get the resources to do it. Or you can say, 'Well, I enjoy what I was doing, and I want to keep doing that.'"[6]True to that humility, when asked by the President of Rice what he would like, following the Nobel announcement, he asked that abike rackbe installed closer to his office and laboratory.[19]

Later research

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Curl's later research interests involvedphysical chemistry,developingDNAgenotyping and sequencing instrumentation, and creatingphotoacousticsensors fortrace gasesusingquantum cascade lasers.[20]He is known in the residential college life at Rice University for being the first master ofLovett College.[21]

Curl retired in 2008 at the age of 74,[6]becoming a UniversityProfessor Emeritus,Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences Emeritus, and Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Rice University.[1][8]

Personal life

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Curl married Jonel Whipple in 1955, with whom he had two children. Hecycledto his office and lab and every week played bridge with the Rice Bridge Brigade. Curl died inHoustonon July 3, 2022, at the age of 88.[22][23][24][25][19]

Awards and honors

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Selected publications

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Journal articles:

  • Curl, Robert (1997). "Dawn of the fullerenes: experiment and conjecture".Reviews of Modern Physics.69(3): 691–702.Bibcode:1997RvMP...69..691C.doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.69.691.

Technical reports:

References

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  1. ^ab"Robert F. Curl".Department of Chemistry, Rice University.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  2. ^abcRobert F. Curl, Jr
  3. ^Carey, Charles W. Jr. (2006).American scientists.New York, NY: Facts on File. pp. 79–80.ISBN9780816054992.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  4. ^abcdefProffitt, Pamela (2001)."Robert Floyd Curl Jr.".In Narins, Brigham (ed.).Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present.Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. pp.503–4.ISBN978-0787617523.
  5. ^abcdefg"Robert F. Curl Jr. – Biographical".Nobelprize.org.Nobel Media AB. 1996.RetrievedJuly 12,2014.
  6. ^abcdBerger, Eric (June 29, 2008)."Legendary Rice professor Robert Curl retiring".Chron.RetrievedJuly 12,2014.
  7. ^"TJHS Alumni: Dr. Robert Floyd Curl Jr. '50".Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Association. August 5, 2013.RetrievedJuly 12,2014.
  8. ^ab"Robert F. Curl: University Professor Emeritus, Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences Emeritus, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus".Rice University Department of Chemistry.RetrievedJuly 12,2014.
  9. ^abcd"Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl, Jr., and Harold W. Kroto".Science History Institute.June 2016.RetrievedMarch 21,2018.
  10. ^Shampo, Marc A.; Kyle, Robert A.; David P., David P. (August 2010)."Robert F. Curl Jr—Nobel Laureate in Chemistry".Mayo Clinic Proceedings.85(8): e58.doi:10.4065/mcp.2010.0448.PMC2912751.PMID20704028.
  11. ^abCurl, Robert F. (July 1997). "Dawn of the fullerenes: experiment and conjecture".Reviews of Modern Physics.69(3): 691–702.Bibcode:1997RvMP...69..691C.doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.69.691.
  12. ^ab"Robert F. Curl Jr. – Biographical".Nobelprize.org.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  13. ^Kroto, H. W.; Heath, J. R.; O'Brien, S. C.; Curl, R. F.; Smalley, R. E. (November 14, 1985). "C60: Buckminsterfullerene".Nature.318(6042): 162–163.Bibcode:1985Natur.318..162K.doi:10.1038/318162a0.S2CID4314237.
  14. ^Heath, J. R.; O'Brien, S. C.; Zhang, Q.; Liu, Y.; Curl, R. F.; Tittel, F. K.; Smalley, R. E. (December 1985). "Lanthanum complexes of spheroidal carbon shells".Journal of the American Chemical Society.107(25): 7779–7780.doi:10.1021/ja00311a102.
  15. ^Zhang, Q. L.; O'Brien, S. C.; Heath, J. R.; Liu, Y.; Curl, R. F.; Kroto, H. W.; Smalley, R. E. (February 1986). "Reactivity of large carbon clusters: spheroidal carbon shells and their possible relevance to the formation and morphology of soot".The Journal of Physical Chemistry.90(4): 525–528.doi:10.1021/j100276a001.
  16. ^ab"2015 Awardees".American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences. 2015.RetrievedJuly 1,2016.
  17. ^ab"Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award"(PDF).American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Chemical Sciences. 2015.RetrievedJuly 1,2016.
  18. ^ab"Discovery of Fullerenes National Historic Chemical Landmark".American Chemical Society.RetrievedJuly 18,2016.
  19. ^abRobert F. Curl (1933–2022),Nature, 17 Aug 2022
  20. ^"Robert F. Curl Jr.".Encyclopædia Britannica.RetrievedJuly 12,2013.
  21. ^"Robert Curl".Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy. June 28, 2013.RetrievedJuly 12,2014.
  22. ^Jade Boyd (July 4, 2022)."Nobel laureate, beloved Rice professor Robert Curl dead at 88".Rice University.RetrievedJuly 5,2022.
  23. ^Durrani, Jamie (July 5, 2022)."Chemistry Nobel laureate Robert Curl dies at 88".Chemistry World.RetrievedJuly 26,2022.
  24. ^Murphy, Brian (July 6, 2022)."Robert Curl, Nobel-winning chemist in 'buckyball' discovery, dies at 88".Washington Post.RetrievedJuly 26,2022.
  25. ^Chang, Kenneth (July 20, 2022)."Robert F. Curl Jr., Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, Dies at 88".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 26,2022.
  26. ^abcdefg"Guide to the Rice University Nobel Prize records, 1978–2006, bulk 1996 UA 123".Rice University.Archived fromthe originalon January 15, 2008.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  27. ^abHargittai, István; Hargittai, Magdolna (2000).Candid science.London: Imperial College Press. pp. 375–388.ISBN978-1860941511.RetrievedJuly 18,2016.
  28. ^Unrau, Lia (May 5, 1997)."Rice University Professor Curl Elected to National Academy of Sciences".Rice University News and Media.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  29. ^"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement".www.achievement.org.American Academy of Achievement.
  30. ^abcd"Prof. Dr. Robert Floyd Curl".Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
  31. ^"American Academy of Arts & Sciences".Rice University.RetrievedJuly 19,2016.
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