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Donald J. Cram

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Donald James Cram
BornApril 22, 1919
Chester, Vermont
DiedJune 17, 2001 (aged 82)
Palm Desert, California[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRollins College(BS)
University of Nebraska(MS)
Harvard University(PhD)
Known forCram's rule
Host–guest chemistry
phenonium ions
paracyclophanes
AwardsNobel Prize in Chemistry(1987)
Glenn T. Seaborg Medal(1989)
National Medal of Science(1993)
Guggenheim fellowship(1955)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsUCLA,Merck & Co,MIT
Theses
Doctoral advisorLouis Fieser
Doctoral studentsM. Frederick Hawthorne
Norman L. Allinger

Donald James Cram(April 22, 1919 – June 17, 2001) was an Americanchemistwho shared the 1987Nobel Prize in ChemistrywithJean-Marie LehnandCharles J. Pedersen"for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity." They were the founders of the field ofhost–guest chemistry.

Early life and education

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Cram was born[2]and raised inChester, Vermont,to aScottishimmigrant father, and aGermanimmigrant mother. His father died before Cram turned four, leaving him the only male in a family of five. He grew up onAid to Dependent Children,and learned to work at an early age, doing jobs such as picking fruit, tossing newspapers, and painting houses, while bartering for piano lessons. By the time he turned eighteen, he had worked at least eighteen different jobs.[3]

Cram attended the Winwood High School in Long Island, N.Y.[4] From 1938 to 1941, he attendedRollins CollegeinWinter Park, Floridaon a national honorary scholarship, where he worked as an assistant in the chemistry department, and was active in theater, chapel choir,Lambda Chi Alpha,Phi Society, and Zeta Alpha Epsilon. It was at Rollins that he became known for building his own chemistry equipment. In 1941, he graduated fromRollins Collegewith aBSin chemistry.[3]

In 1942, he graduated from theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincolnwith aMSin organic chemistry,[2]with Norman O. Cromwell serving as his thesis adviser. His subject was "Amino ketones, mechanism studies of the reactions of heterocyclic secondary amines with -bromo-, -unsaturated ketones."[5]

In 1947, Cram graduated fromHarvard Universitywith aPhDinorganic chemistry,[2]withLouis Fieserserving as the adviser on his dissertation on "Syntheses and reactions of 2-(ketoalkyl)-3-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones"[6]

Career

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From 1942 to 1945, Cram worked in chemical research atMerck & Colaboratories, doing penicillin research with mentorMax Tishler.[3]Postdoctoral work was as anAmerican Chemical Societypostdoctoral fellow at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology,withJohn D. Roberts.Cram was the originator ofCram's rule,which provides a model for predicting the outcome ofnucleophilic attackof carbonyl compounds.[7]He published over 350 research papers and eight books on organic chemistry, and taught graduate and post-doctoral students from 21 different countries.[3]

Research

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Crystal structure of a nitrobenzene bound within ahemicarcerandreported by Cram and coworkers[8]

Cram expanded uponCharles Pedersen's ground-breaking synthesis ofcrown ethers,two-dimensionalorganic compoundsthat are able to recognize and selectively combine with the ions of certain metal elements. He synthesized molecules that took thischemistryinto three dimensions, creating an array of differently shaped molecules that could interact selectively with other chemicals because of their complementary three-dimensional structures. Cram's work represented a large step toward the synthesis of functional laboratory-made mimics ofenzymesand other natural molecules whose special chemical behavior is due to their characteristic structure. He also did work instereochemistryandCram's rule of asymmetric inductionis named after him.

In 1973, Cram collaborated on research with Irish chemistFrancis Leslie Scott.

Professor

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Cram was named anassistant professorat theUniversity of California, Los Angelesin 1947, and a professor in 1955. He served there until his retirement in 1987. He was a popular teacher, having instructed some 8,000 undergraduates in his career and guided the academic output of 200graduate students.He entertained his classes by strumming his guitar and singingfolk songs.[2]He showed a self-deprecating style, saying at one time:

An investigator starts research in a new field with faith, a foggy idea, and a few wild experiments. Eventually the interplay of negative and positive results guides the work. By the time the research is completed, he or she knows how it should have been started and conducted.[9]

Bibliography

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Technical Reports:

Books:

  1. Cram, Donald J.;Jane M. Cram (1994).Container Molecules and their Guests.Great Britain: Royal Society of Chemistry. pp. 223 pp.ISBN978-0-85404-507-5.
  2. Cram, Donald J.(1990).From Design to Discovery.Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. pp. 146pp.
  3. Cram, Jane M.; Donald J. Cram (1978).The Essence of Organic Chemistry.Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley. pp. 456pp.
  4. Hendrickson, James B.; Donald J. Cram; George S. Hammond (1970).Organic Chemistry.Reading, Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill. pp. 1279pp. 3rd ed.
  5. Richards, John; Don Cram; George S. Hammond (1967).Elements of organic chemistry.New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 444pp.LCCN66024479.
  6. Cram, Donald J.(1965).Fundamentals of Carbanion Chemistry.New York: Academic Press. pp. 289pp.
  7. Cram, Donald J.;George S. Hammond (1964).Organic Chemistry.New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 846pp. 2nd ed.
  8. Cram, Donald J.;George S. Hammond (1959).Organic Chemistry.New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 712pp. 1st ed.

Awards and honors

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Personal life

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Cram once admitted that his career wasn't without sacrifice. His first wife was Rollins classmate, Jean Turner, who also graduated in 1941, and went on to receive a master's degree in social work fromColumbia University.His second wife, Jane, is a former chemistry professor atMount Holyoke College.Cram chose not to have any children, "because I would either be a bad father or a bad scientist."[3]

Cram died of cancer in 2001, at the age of 82.[2]

References

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  1. ^abDonald J. Cramon Nobelprize.orgEdit this at Wikidata
  2. ^abcdef"Donald Cram, Nobel Laureate and UCLA Chemist, Dies at 82"(Press release).University of California.2001-06-19. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-06-17.
  3. ^abcdef"Donald J. Cram, Ph.D.: A 1941 Rollins College Chemistry Alumnus and winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-20.Retrieved2010-09-25.
  4. ^ James, Laylin K. (1994).Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901–1992.Washington, DC: American Chemical Society and Chemical Heritage Foundation. pp.146pp.ISBN978-0-8412-2459-9.
  5. ^"University of Nebraska Research Library entry".Archived fromthe originalon 2020-02-18.Retrieved2008-10-10.
  6. ^Harvard Library Hollis
  7. ^Studies in Stereochemistry. X. The Rule of "Steric Control of Asymmetric Induction" in the Syntheses of Acyclic SystemsDonald J. Cram, Fathy Ahmed Abd ElhafezJ. Am. Chem. Soc.;1952;74(23); 5828–5835.doi:10.1021/ja01143a007
  8. ^Juyoung Yoon; Carolyn B. Knobler; Emily F. Maverick; Donald J. Cram (1997). "Dissymmetric new hemicarcerands containing four bridges of different lengths".Chem. Commun.(14): 1303–1304.doi:10.1039/a701187c.
  9. ^"Donald Cram Quotes".
  10. ^National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science
  11. ^"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement".achievement.org.American Academy of Achievement.
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