Vladimir Prelog
Vladimir Prelog ( born July 23, 1906 in Sarajevo, † January 7, 1998 in Zurich ) was a Swiss chemist. He got together with John W. Cornforth for his work on the stereoisomerism of organic molecules in 1975 the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Also known is the Cahn -Ingold -Prelog convention (CIP ) for the description of chiral molecules, which he proposed together with Robert Sidney Cahn and Christopher Kelk Ingold in 1966.
Life
1915, Prelog family to Zagreb, where he attended high school. 1924 to 1929 he studied chemistry at the College of Chemical and Technological Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he became a PhD at Emil Votoček. Initially, he worked in Prague as a research assistant in a lab, but where he could do not conduct research. In 1933 he married in Prague Kamila Vitek. In 1935, he joined as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb.
After the German invasion in 1941 Zagreb Zagreb Prelog wanted to leave. Leopold Ružička, Professor at the ETH Zurich and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry ( 1939), invited him to Zurich. There he began to work at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, first as an assistant; he was a lecturer and in 1950 the title of Professor, later to associate professor. In 1952, he was Professor ad personam and 1957 Ruzicka's successor as a laboratory of the Institute of Organic Chemistry. In 1976 he became Professor Emeritus.
1949 Prelog son Jan was born and in 1959 he received Swiss citizenship. Prelog died in 1998 at the age of 91 years in Zurich. His ashes were transferred on 27 September 2001 on the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb.
Work
With his scientific efforts, he led the research conducted by Leopold Ružička on. He was mainly active in the field of stereochemistry of natural products, especially the alkaloids and antibiotics. The Stereochemistry examined the spatial arrangement of the atoms in the molecules. You want to convey the most accurate image of the shape of molecules and thus makes a significant contribution to the knowledge of the correlation between structure and properties of matter. It is not a specialized field of organic chemistry, but penetrates as essential view all areas of chemistry. Special merits Prelog gained in the study of so-called " middle rings " ring compounds having 8 to 14 carbon atoms, which he for a gap between the "classic wrestling " with 6 carbon atoms and the large rings with 16 or 18 carbon atoms, their discovery Ružička was honored with the Nobel Prize, was close.
Basic research was also a socially relevant activity for Prelog. Especially when it later emerged, for example, about drugs to fight tuberculosis or leprosy. In his work was based the development of effective antibiotics. Vladimir Prelog was popular with his staff and colleagues as unpredictable humorist, who sparkled with ideas. In addition to its devotional work, he collected stamps, was an avid photographer and loved chamber music. Also for the sport, he found time and interest. The professor lived as a committed pedestrian, non- motorist and Non smoking. In 1976 he retired, but withdrew far back from the research. On September 22, 1986, a scientific symposium at the Auditorium Maximum of the ETH Zurich was held on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Vladimir Prelog. In this framework, the first Prelog Lecture was held and staged the first ever presentation of the golden Prelog Medal.
Professor Prelog has received countless awards in the course of his scientific work. In addition to the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1975, he was among other things, with the honorary doctorate by the universities of Zagreb, Liverpool and Paris, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, honored. He was also a " Membre étranger " of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, and member of the Royal Society, London, the United States National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina Hall and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1964 Prelog was the Marcel Benoist Prize, the oldest science prize in Switzerland, excellent. In 1986 he became an honorary member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.