Lewis Hastings Sarett
Lewis Hastings Sarett (born December 22, 1917 in Champaign , Illinois , † November 29, 1999 in Viola , Idaho ) was an American chemist . He is known for the first partial synthesis of cortisone from deoxycholic acid .
Life
Sarett graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in 1939 and received his PhD from Princeton University in 1942 with Everett Wallis . At that time he was working in the organic synthesis of steroids. From 1942 until his retirement in 1982 he worked for the pharmaceutical company MSD . Most recently, he was Senior Vice President Science and Technology.
During the Second World War , he succeeded in the complicated synthesis of cortisone at Merck. At that time in the USA this was classified as a high priority for the war effort, as it was wrongly believed that German pilots would take the means to better endure great heights. The group leader at Merck, Max Tishler , also contributed to improving the synthesis . After the war, Merck found other uses for cortisone when Philip Showalter Hench discovered its therapeutic effects on rheumatoid arthritis.
From 1969 to 1976 he was head of the research laboratories at Merck & Co. In addition to improving anti-rheumatic drugs (e.g. development of Decadron ), he was also involved in veterinary medicine, antibiotics and vaccine development. He was involved in 178 patents. The oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols with pyridine or chromium trioxide to aldehydes or ketones is called Sarett oxidation .
He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1980 and received the IRI Medal that same year . In 1975 he received the National Medal of Science and in 1976 the Perkin Medal . In 1964 he received the Swedish Scheele Prize , in 1951 the Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award , in 1972 the Chemical Pioneer Award and in 1964 the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry . In 1977 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences and in 1978 the Institute of Medicine.
He had been married since 1944 and had two daughters.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arthur A. Patchett: Lewis Hastings Sarett 1917-1999 (PDF; 156 kB). Biographical Memoirs, Vol. 81, 2002, The National Academy Press, Washington, DC
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sarett, Lewis Hastings |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chemist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 22, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Champaign , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 29, 1999 |
| Place of death | Viola , Idaho |