Donald J. Cram

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Donald James Cram
BornApril 22, 1919
Chester, Vermont
DiedJune 17, 2001
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRollins College
Known forCram's rule
Host guest chemistry
phenonium ions
paracyclophanes
Awards1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, National Medal of Science
Scientific career
Fieldschemist
InstitutionsUCLA, Merck & Co, MIT
Doctoral advisorLouis Fieser

Donald James Cram (April 22, 1919 – June 17, 2001) was an American chemist who shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jean-Marie Lehn and Charles J. Pedersen "for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity." They were the founders of the field of host-guest chemistry. He is possibly most famous for Cram's rule, which provides a model for predicting the outcome of nucleophilic attack of carbonyl compounds.[1]

File:Hemicarcerand ChemComm 1997 1303.jpg
Crystal structure of a nitrobenzene bound within a hemicarcerand reported by Cram and coworkers[2]

Cram was born in Chester, Vermont,[3] and died in Palm Desert, California.[4]

Education

Thesis Advisor: Norman O. Cromwell, "Amino ketones, mechanism studies of the reactions of heterocyclic secondary amines with -bromo-, -unsaturated ketones"[6]
Dissertation advisor: Louis Fieser, "Syntheses and reactions of 2-(ketoalkyl)-3-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones"[7]

Career history

Awards and Honors

Field of study

Cram expanded upon Charles Pedersen's ground-breaking synthesis of crown ethers, basically two-dimensional organic compounds that are able to recognize and selectively combine with the ions of certain metal elements. Cram synthesized molecules that took this chemistry into three dimensions, creating an array of differently shaped molecules that could interact selectively with other chemicals because of their complementary three-dimensional structures. His work represented a large step toward the synthesis of functional laboratory-made mimics of enzymes and other natural molecules whose special chemical behavior is due to their characteristic structure. He also did work in stereochemistry and Cram's rule of asymmetric induction is named after him.

As a teacher

Not only was he a researcher, but he was also a popular teacher, having instructed some 8,000 undergraduates in his career and guided the academic output of 200 graduate students. He entertained his classes by strumming his guitar and singing folk songs.[4] 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." [1]

Books

  1. Cram, Donald J. (1990). From Design to Discovery. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. pp. 146pp. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. Cram, Jane M. (1978). The Essence of Organic Chemistry. Reading, Massachussetts: Addison-Wesley. pp. 456pp. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. Hendrickson, James B. (1970). Organic Chemistry. Reading, Massachussetts: McGraw-Hill. pp. 1279pp. 3rd ed. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. Richards, John (1967). Elements of organic chemistry. New York, McGraw-Hill. pp. 444pp. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. Cram, Donald J. (1965). Fundamentals of Carbanion Chemistry. New York: Academic Press. pp. 289pp. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. Cram, Donald J. (1964). Organic Chemistry. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 846pp. 2nd ed. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. Cram, Donald J. (1959). Organic Chemistry. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 712pp. 1st ed. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

References

  1. ^ Studies in Stereochemistry. X. The Rule of "Steric Control of Asymmetric Induction" in the Syntheses of Acyclic Systems Donald J. Cram, Fathy Ahmed Abd Elhafez J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 1952; 74(23); 5828-5835. Abstract
  2. ^ Juyoung Yoon, Carolyn B. Knobler, Emily F. Maverick and Donald J. Cram (1997). "Dissymmetric new hemicarcerands containing four bridges of different lengths". Chem. Commun.: 1303–1304. doi:10.1039/a701187c.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Donald J. Cram. "Autobiography". The Nobel Foundation.
  4. ^ a b "Donald Cram, Nobel Laureate and UCLA Chemist, Dies at 82" (Press release). University of California. 2001-06-19.
  5. ^ James, Laylin K. (1994). Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 1901-1992. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society and Chemical Heritage Foundation. pp. 146pp. ISBN 0-8412-2459-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ University of Nebraska Research Library entry
  7. ^ Harvard Library Hollis search


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