Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded since 1901. The first of its winners was Jacob Vant-Goff. This scientist received a prize for the laws of osmotic pressure and chemical dynamics discovered by him. Of course, it is impossible to tell about all winners in the framework of one article. We will talk about the most famous ones, and also about those to whom the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in the last few years.

Ernest Rutherford

One of the most famous chemists is Ernest Rutherford. He received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for investigating the decay of elements of radioactive substances. The years of life of this scientist are 1871-1937. He is an English physicist and chemist born in New Zealand. Thanks to his success during his studies at Nelson College, he received a scholarship that allowed him to go to Christchurch, a New Zealand town where Canterbury College was located. In 1894, Rutherford became a bachelor of natural sciences. After some time, the scientist was awarded a scholarship located in England, Cambridge University and moved to this country.

In 1898, Rutherford began to carry out important experiments related to the radioactive emission of uranium. After a while, he discovered two of his kind: alpha rays and beta rays. The first penetrate only a short distance, and the second - to much more. After a while, Rutherford found out that thorium emits a special radioactive gaseous product. He called this phenomenon "emanation" (emission).

New research has shown that actinium and radium also carry out emanation. Rutherford, on the basis of his discoveries, came to important conclusions. He found out that the alpha and beta rays emit all the radioactive elements. In addition, their radioactivity decreases after a certain period of time. Based on the findings, an important assumption could be made. All radioactive elements known to science, as the scientist concluded, are included in one family of atoms, and the decrease in radioactivity can be taken as a basis for their classification.

Maria Curie (Sklodowska)

The first woman to whom the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded was Maria Curie. This important event for science occurred in 1911. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to her for the discovery of polonium and radium, the isolation of radium, and also for studying the compounds and the nature of the last element. Maria was born in Poland, after a while she moved to France. Years of her life - 1867-1934. Curie won the Nobel Prize not only in chemistry, but also in physics (in 1903, together with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel).

Marie Curie had to face the fact that women in her time was practically closed the way to science. They were not admitted to the University of Warsaw. In addition, the Curie family was poor. However, Maria managed to get a higher education in Paris.

The most important achievements of Maria Curie

Henri Becquerel in 1896 found that the uranium compounds emit radiation that is capable of penetrating deeply. Becquerel's radiation, unlike the open V. Roentgen in 1895, was not the result of excitation from some external source. It was an internal property of uranium. Maria was interested in this phenomenon. In early 1898, she began to study it. The researcher tried to determine whether there are other substances that have the ability to emit these rays. In December 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered two new elements. They were called radium and polonium (in honor of the birthplace of Mary of Poland). After this, work was continued on their isolation and study of their properties. In 1910, together with Andre Deborn, Maria singled out the metallic radium in its pure form. Thus, the research cycle begun 12 years ago was completed.

Linus Karl Pauling

This man is one of the greatest chemists. He received the Nobel Prize in 1954 for studying the nature of chemical bonding, and also for using it to clarify the structure of compounds.

The years of Pauling's life are 1901-1994. He was born in the US, in Oregon (Portland). As a researcher Pauling for a long time studied X-ray crystallography. He was interested in how the rays pass through the crystal and a characteristic pattern appears. According to this figure, it was possible to determine the atomic structure of the corresponding substance. Using this method, the scientist studied the nature of bonds in benzene, as well as in other aromatic compounds.

In 1928 Pauling created the theory of hybridization (resonance) of chemical bonds, which occurs in aromatic compounds. In 1934, the scientist turned his attention to biochemistry, in particular the biochemistry of proteins. Together with A. Mirski, he created a theory of the function and structure of the protein. Together with Charles Corwell, this scientist studied the effect of oxygen saturation (oxygenation) on the magnetic properties of the hemoglobin protein. In 1942, the researcher was able to change the chemical structure of globulins (proteins contained in the blood). In 1951, Pauling, together with R. Corey, published a paper on the molecular structure of proteins. It was the result of work that lasted for 14 years. Using X-ray crystallography to study proteins in muscles, hair, hair, nails and other tissues, scientists have made an important discovery. They found out that in the protein the chains of amino acids are twisted into a spiral. This has become a great progress in biochemistry.

S. Hinshelwood and N. Semenov

You probably want to know whether there are Russian Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry. Although some of our compatriots were nominated for this award, only N. Semenov received it. Together with Hinshelwood, he was awarded a prize for research on the mechanism of chemical reactions in 1956.

Hinshelwood - English scientist (years of life - 1897-1967). His main work was connected with the study of chain reactions. He investigated the homogeneous analysis, as well as the mechanism of reactions of this type.

Semenov Nikolai Nikolaevich (years of life - 1896-1986) - Russian chemist and physicist originally from the city of Saratov. The first scientific problem that interested him was the ionization of gases. The scientist, while still a student at the university, wrote the first article on collisions between molecules and electrons. After a while he began to study more deeply the processes of recombination and dissociation. In addition, he was interested in the molecular aspects of condensation and vapor adsorption occurring on a solid surface. The investigations carried out by him made it possible to find the relationship between the temperature of the surface with which condensation takes place and the density of the vapor. In 1934, the scientist published a paper in which he proved that a multitude of reactions, including polymerization, proceed via a branched or chain reaction mechanism.

Robert Burns Woodward

All the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry have made a great contribution to science, but R. Woodward is particularly distinguished among them. His achievements are very important today. This scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965. He received it for his contribution to the field of organic synthesis. Years of life of Robert - 1917-1979. He was born in the US, in the US city of Boston, located in Massachusetts.

The first achievement in the field of chemistry Woodward committed during the Second World War, when he was a consultant to the firm Polaroid Corporation. Because of the war, quinine became scarce. This antimalarial drug, which was also used in the manufacture of lenses. Woodward and W. Doering, his colleague, having readily available materials and standard equipment, after 14 months of work carried out the synthesis of quinine.

After 3 years, together with Schramm, this scientist created a protein analog by connecting a long chain of amino acid links. The polypeptides resulting from this were used in the manufacture of artificial antibiotics and plastics. In addition, with their help, the metabolism of proteins began to be studied. Woodward in 1951 began working on the synthesis of steroids. Among the compounds obtained were lanosterol, chlorophyll, reserpine, lysergic acid, vitamin B12, colchicine, prostaglandin F2a. Subsequently, many of the compounds he and employees of the Siba Corporation Institute, whose director he was, were used in industry. Nefalosporin C was one of the most important of them. It is an antibiotic such as penicillin, which is used against infectious diseases caused by bacteria.

Our list of Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry will be supplemented by the names of scientists who were awarded it in the 21st century, in the second decade.

A. Suzuki, E. Negishi, R. Heck

These researchers were rewarded for developing new ways of connecting together carbon atoms to create complex molecules. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010. Heck and Negishi are Americans, and Akiro Suzuki is a citizen of Japan. Their goal was the creation of complex organic molecules. In school, we learn that organic compounds have carbon atoms in their composition that form the skeleton of a molecule. For a long time, the problem of scientists was that carbon atoms are heavily connected to other atoms. Due to the catalyst made of palladium, it was possible to solve this problem. Under the action of the catalyst, the carbon atoms began to interact with each other, forming complex organic structures. These processes and studied the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry this year. Almost simultaneously, reactions were made, named in honor of these scientists.

R. Lefkowitz, M. Karplus, B. Kobilka

Lefkowitz (pictured above), Kobilka and Karplus - that's who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2012. The award went to three of these scientists for studying the G-protein coupled receptors. Robert Lefkowitz is a US citizen born on April 15, 1943. The bulk of his research is devoted to the work of bioreceptors and the transformation of their signals. Lefkowitz described in detail the functional features, structure and sequence of β-adrenergic receptors, as well as 2 types of regulatory proteins: β-arestin and GRK-kinases. This scientist in the 1980s, together with colleagues, cloned a gene responsible for the functioning of the β-adrenergic receptor.

B. Kobilka is a native of the United States. He was born in Little Falls, Minnesota. After graduation, the researcher worked under the guidance of Lefkowitz.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2012 was also awarded to M. Karplus. He was born in Vienna in 1930. Karplus was a descendant of a Jewish family, who had to move to the US, fleeing persecution of the Nazis. The main field of research of this scientist was nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, quantum chemistry and the kinetics of chemical processes.

M. Karplus, M. Levitt, A. Worchel

Let us now turn to the winners of the 2013 Prize. Scientists Karplus (pictured below), Worchel and Levitt received it for models of complex chemical systems.

M. Levitt was born in South Africa in 1947. When he was 16, Michael's family moved to the UK. In London, he entered the Royal College in 1967, and then continued his studies at Cambridge University. His work in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of this university is associated with the creation of models of spatial structures of tRNA. Michael is considered one of the founders of the methods of computer modeling and studying the structures of various protein molecules (mainly proteins).

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 was also presented to Ari Worshel. He was born in Palestine in 1940. In 1958-62 years. He served in the rank of captain in the IDF, and then began training at the Jerusalem Institute. In 1970-72 years. He worked at the Weizmann Institute as an assistant professor, and since 1991 he became a professor of biology and chemistry in Southern California. Worchell is considered one of the creators of computational enzymology - the biology section. He studied the mechanisms and structure of catalytic action, as well as the structure of enzyme molecules.

Sh. Hell, E. Betzig and W. Merner

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 was awarded to Merner, Betzig and Hella. These scientists have created new methods of microscopy, surpassing the capabilities of the light microscope that we are accustomed to. The results of their work allow us to consider the ways of molecules inside the cells of living organisms. For example, these methods make it possible to monitor the behavior of proteins responsible for the onset of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Currently, the research of these scientists is increasingly being used in science and medicine.

Hell was born in 1962 in Romania. He is now a citizen of Germany. Eric Betzig was born in 1960 in the state of Michigan. William Merner was born in 1953 in California.

Hell has been working on STED microscopy on spontaneous suppressed emission since the 1990s. The first laser in it is excited before the appearance of a fluorescent glow detected by the receiver. Another laser is used to improve the resolving power of the device. Merner and Betzig, colleagues of Hell, carrying out independently their own research, laid the foundation for another type of microscopy. It is a question of microscopy of single molecules.

T. Lindahl, P. Modric and Aziz Sanjar

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015 was awarded to the Swede Lindal, the American Modric and the Turk Sanjar. Scientists who shared the award among themselves independently explained and described the mechanisms by which cells "repair" DNA and protect genetic information from damage. It was for this that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015.

The scientific community in the 1960s was convinced that these molecules are extremely strong and remain practically unchanged throughout their lives. Carrying out the researches in the Karolinsky institute, biochemist Lindahl (1938 of a birth) has shown, that in work of a DNA various defects are accumulated. This means that there must be natural mechanisms by which DNA molecules are "fixed". Lindahl in 1974 found an enzyme that cleans the damaged cytosine from them. In the 1980-90s, a scientist who had moved to the UK by that time showed how glycosylase works. This is a special group of enzymes that performs the work in the first stage of DNA repair. The scientist was able to reproduce in the laboratory this process (the so-called "excision repair").

Other laureates of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry of 2015 are also worthy of attention. Aziz Sanjar was born in 1946 in Turkey. He received a doctor's diploma in Istanbul, after which he worked for several years as a rural doctor. However, in 1973, Aziz became interested in biochemistry. The scientist was struck by the fact that after obtaining a dose of ultraviolet, which is deadly dangerous for them, the bacteria recover their forces rather quickly, if irradiation is carried out in the blue spectrum of the visible range. Already in the Texas laboratory, Sanjar identified and cloned the enzyme gene, which is responsible for eliminating the damage from the ultraviolet (photolysis). This discovery in the 1970s did not cause much interest in the universities of America, and the scientist went to Yale. It was here that he described the second system of "repairing" cells after they were exposed to ultraviolet radiation.

Paul Modric (born 1946) was born in the United States (New Mexico). He discovered a method by which in the process of cell division, the errors appearing in DNA in the process of division are corrected.

So, we already know who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015. It remains only to guess who will be awarded this award next year, 2016. I want to believe that in the near future, domestic scientists will also stand out, and new Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry from Russia will appear.