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Interview no.: 0019
Date of interview: 7 October 1985
Location: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
No. of pages: 41
Interviewer:
Tonja A. Koeppel
Minutes: 90
Access level: Semi-restricted Access. Users may view the oral history with the permission of CHF. Permission of the interviewee is required to quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history. Please contact CHF to request interviewee’s permission.
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Albert Eschenmoser begins the interview with a discussion of his early life and education. Born in Switzerland, he attended school in the canton of Uri. At the age of sixteen, he decided that he wanted to become a secondary school teacher, and attended an Oberrealschule in St. Gallen. He received his Maturität in 1944, and continued on to the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH). Eschenmoser was encouraged to pursue chemistry, and-inspired by Leopold Ruzicka-concentrated on organic chemistry. His research focused on sesquiterpene chemistry. In 1949, he earned his diploma, and became a doctoral student under Ruzicka. His doctoral thesis addressed acid-catalyzed cyclization, and in 1951 he received his doctorate. Eschenmoser's research interests then turned to the synthesis of colchicine, which his group accomplished in 1959. Next came vitamin B12 and the corrin ligand system. ETH collaborated with Robert B. Woodward's Harvard research group on this project, and in 1972 they announced the success of the vitamin B12 synthesis. Eschenmoser concludes the interview with a discussion of research funding, his professional recognition, and the ramifications of the vitamin B12 synthesis.
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| Title & Description |
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Page No. |
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Family Background and Early Education
Growing up in Uri. Desire to become a teacher. Attending the Oberrealschule in St. Gallen. Influence of parents. Continuing studies at the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH). |
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1 |
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Chemistry at ETH
Decision to pursue chemistry. Focus on organic chemistry. Influence of Leopold Ruzicka. Examinations with Vladimir Prelog. Research with Hans Schinz on sesquiterpene chemistry. Doctoral thesis on acid-catalyzed cyclization. Disproving Ruzicka’s structure of zingiberene. Relationship between Ruzicka and Robert B. Woodward. |
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3 |
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Synthesis of Natural Products
Work on colchicine. Race with Woodward research group. Decision to pursue synthesis of vitamin B12. Importance of corrin ligand system. Development of a model. Collaboration with Woodward group. Impact of Woodward-Hoffmann rules. Announcement of synthesis of vitamin B12. Failure to jointly publish results. |
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12 |
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Conclusion
Position at ETH. Research funding. Influence of Ruzicka. Awards. Reflections on research. |
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29 |
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Notes
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35 |
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Index
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37 |
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| 1949 |
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Dipl.sc.nat., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich |
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| 1951 |
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Dr.sc.nat., Organic Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich |
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| Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich |
| 1956-1960 |
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Instructor, Organic Chemistry |
| 1960-1965 |
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Associate Professor, Organic Chemistry |
| 1965-1992 |
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Professor, Organic Chemistry |
| 1992- |
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Professor Emeritus |
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| The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California |
| 1996- |
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Professor, Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology |
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| 1949 |
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Kern Prize, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
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| 1956 |
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Werner Prize, Swiss Chemical Society
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| 1958 |
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Ruzicka Prize, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
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| 1966 |
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Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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| 1966 |
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Honorary Degree, University of Fribourg
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| 1970 |
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Honorary Sc.D., University of Chicago
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| 1973 |
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Foreign Associate, National Academy of Sciences
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| 1973 |
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Marcel Benoist Prize, Eidgenössiches Departement des Innern, Switzerland
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| 1974 |
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Robert A. Welch Award, Houston
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| 1976 |
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Kirkwood Medal, Yale University
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| 1976 |
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August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker
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| 1976 |
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ACS Centennial Foreign Fellow, American Chemical Society
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| 1977 |
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Dannie Heineman Prize, Academy of Sciences, Germany (BRD)
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| 1978 |
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Davy Medal, Royal Society
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| 1979 |
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Honorary Ds.C., University of Edinburgh
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| 1980 |
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Dr. Cliff S. Hamilton Award in Organic Chemistry, Lincoln, Nebraska
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| 1981 |
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Honorary Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry
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| 1981 |
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Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry, Pergamon Press
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| 1982 |
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George Kenner Award, University of Liverpool
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| 1984 |
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Arthur C. Cope Award, American Chemical Society
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| 1986 |
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Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Wolf Foundation
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| 1988 |
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M. M. Janot Medal, Gif-sur-Yvette
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| 1989 |
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Honorary Degree, Univeristy of Bologna
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| 1990 |
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Honorary Degree, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität
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| 1991 |
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Honorary Degree, Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg
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| 1991 |
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Cothenius Medal, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina
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| 1993 |
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Honorary Degree, Harvard University
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| 1994 |
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CIBA-Drew Award in Biomedical Research, Drew University
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| 1995 |
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H. H. Inhoffen Medall, Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung
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| 1998 |
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Nakanishi Prize, Chemical Society of Japan
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Dr. Tonja A. Koeppel received a master's degree in chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1944. Since then she has written about chemistry, done research, and taught college chemistry. Dr. Koeppel is also a historian of chemistry. In 1973, she earned a Ph.D. degree in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. She is especially interested in the development of organic chemistry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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