Melvin Spencer Newman

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Melvin Spencer Newman (born October 3, 1908 in New York City , † May 30, 1993 in Columbus ) was an American chemist who became known through the introduction of the Newman projection .

life and work

Newman came from a Jewish family and was the grandson of Isidore Newman , a banker and philanthropist from New Orleans . Newman was born in New York, but the family moved to New Orleans shortly afterwards . At age 14, he moved back to New York, where he attended Riverdale County School. From 1925 Newman studied chemistry at Yale University , where he received his doctorate in 1932 in the group of Rudolph J. Anderson to the Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry ( Ph. D. in Chemistry ) . After postdoctoral stays at Yale, Columbia University and Harvard University , he began his career at Ohio State University . In 1940 he was promoted to assistant professor and in 1944 to professor. His scientific achievements include contributions to the understanding of the carcinogenic properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs ) and studies of nonplanar derivatives of this class of compounds. The first synthesis of hexahelicene and its resolution was carried out by Newman.

In 1933 he married Beatrice Crystal and they had two daughters and two sons.
His sister, Alice Louise, was the first wife of Nikolai Tichonowitsch Berezovsky .

honors and awards

Newman was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences from 1956 . The American Chemical Society awarded him the Prize for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry and the Morley Medal in 1961 . Yale University awarded him the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal in 1975. The University of New Orleans awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1975. The Sullivant Medal was awarded to him in 1976 by Ohio State University .

At the suggestion of Albert Eschenmoser , the Newman voltage , which describes the 1.5 repulsion of non- hydrogen atoms, was named after M. S. Newman. The Newman-Kwart rearrangement also bears his name.

literature

  • L. A. Paquette, M. Orchin: Melvin Spencer Newman . In: National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: Biographical Memoirs . Vol. 73 , p. 335-348. National Academy Press, 1998 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b "Newman, Jacob K.," in: James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography , v. 33, New York: JT White, 1947, p. 183.
  2. ^ Albert Gossauer: Structure and reactivity of biomolecules , Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zurich, 2006, p. 85, ISBN 978-3-906390-29-1 .
  3. ^ "Newman, Melvin Spencer," in: William Haynes (ed.), Chemical Who's who , vol. 3, 1951, p. 545.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Newman, Melvin Spencer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American chemist
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1993
Place of death Columbus (Ohio)