Woodward, Robert B(urns)

born April 10, 1917, Boston, Mass., U.S.

died July 8, 1979, Cambridge, Mass.

U.S. chemist.

He attended MIT and taught at Harvard University (1938–79). Recognizing that physical measurement revealed molecular structure better than chemical reaction, in 1940–42 he developed "Woodward's rules" for determining structure by ultraviolet spectroscopy. In 1945 his methods finally clarified the structure of penicillin and of many more complex natural products. He proposed the correct biosynthetic pathway of steroid hormones. He was the most accomplished synthesist of complex organic compounds, including quinine (1944) and vitamin B₁₂ (1971, in more than 100 reactions), a task that led to the fundamental concept of conservation of orbital symmetry. He received a 1965 Nobel Prize, and in 1963 the new Woodward Research Institute in Basel, Switz., was named for him.

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