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{{Short description|American chemist (1917–2012)}}

factoids

Taunton, Massachusetts, United States>U.S.2012136|1}}| death_place = Chesterfield, Missouri, U.S.| field = Chemistry| work_institution = Thomas and Hochwalt LaboratoriesMonsanto CompanyHarvard University (Bachelor of Arts>AB) Columbia University (PhD)| thesis_title = A preliminary investigation of the constituents of Astragalus wootoni. Β-substituted-Δα, Β-butenolides of the naphthalene, indene and norcholane series| thesis_year = 1942| thesis_url =weblink| doctoral_advisor = Robert Elderfield| doctoral_students = | known_for = Chiral phosphine ligands that proved effective in the enantioselective synthesis of L-DOPA| prizes = Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2001)}}William Standish Knowles (June 1, 1917 – June 13, 2012) was an American chemist. He was born in Taunton, Massachusetts. Knowles was one of the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He split half the prize with Ryōji Noyori for their work in asymmetric synthesis, specifically for his work in hydrogenation reactions. The other half was awarded to K. Barry Sharpless for his work in oxidation reactions.YUN > FIRST1 = O., Profile of William S. Knowles, 10.1073/pnas.0507546102, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102, 47, 16913–16915, 2005, 16286647, 1287994, 2005PNAS..10216913Y, free,

Education

Knowles attended Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He led his class academically and upon graduation was admitted to Harvard University. Feeling that he was too young to go to college, Knowles spent a year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. At the end of the year, he captured his first award in chemistry, the school's $50 Boylston Prize.WEB, William S. Knowles – Autobiography,weblink The Nobel Foundation, 2011-04-07, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110621151907weblink">weblink 2011-06-21, After his year in preparatory school, Knowles attended Harvard, where he majored in chemistry, focusing on organic chemistry. He received his undergraduate degree in 1939, and attended Columbia University for graduate school.

Awards and honors

• 1983 Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of ChemistsWEB,weblink Chemical Pioneer Award, American Institute of Chemists, 30 November 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151208063620weblink">weblink 8 December 2015,
• 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 2008 Peter H. Raven Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Academy of Science, St. Louis.WEB, David M. Isserman / Isserman Consulting LLC / www.isserman.com,weblink Academy of Science – St. Louis :: Academy Initiatives :: Outstanding St. Louis Scientists Awards, Academyofsciencestl.org, 2012-04-19, 2012-06-16, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140201204308weblink">weblink 2014-02-01, WEB,weblink Archived copy, 2011-07-08, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110928181529weblink">weblink 2011-09-28,

Nobel Prize

He shared half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001 with Ryōji Noyori for "their work on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions". The other half of the prize was awarded to K. Barry Sharpless for the development of a range of catalytic asymmetric oxidations. Knowles developed one of the first asymmetric hydrogenation catalysts by replacing the achiral triphenylphosphine ligands in Wilkinson's catalyst with chiral phosphine ligands. This experimental catalyst was effective for enantioselective synthesis, achieving a modest 15% enantiomeric excess.(File:Hydrogenation-Knowles1968.png|center|350px)Knowles was also the first to apply enantioselective metal catalysis to industrial-scale synthesis; while working for the Monsanto Company he developed an enantioselective hydrogenation step for the production of L-DOPA, utilising the DIPAMP ligand.JOURNAL, Vineyard, B. D., Knowles, W. S., Sabacky, M. J., Bachman, G. L., Weinkauff, D. J., Asymmetric hydrogenation. Rhodium chiral bisphosphine catalyst, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1977, 99, 18, 5946–5952, 10.1021/ja00460a018, JOURNAL, Knowles, William S., Asymmetric Hydrogenations (Nobel Lecture) Copyright© The Nobel Foundation 2002. We thank the Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, for permission to print this lecture., Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2002, 41, 12, 1998, 10.1002/1521-3773(20020617)41:123.0.CO;2-8,

Personal life

Following his retirement in 1986, Knowles resided in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. In retirement he restored native prairie grasses on a 100-acre farm that his wife had inherited. He was married to his wife, Nancy, for 66 years and had four children, Elizabeth, Peter, Sarah and Lesley. He also had four grandchildren. Knowles died in Chesterfield on June 13, 2012, at age 95. He and his wife had previously stated that their farm would be donated to be converted into a city park after their deaths.WEB,weblink William Knowles, Nobel Winner in Chemistry, Dies at 95, June 15, 2012, The New York Times,

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture December 8, 2001 Asymmetric Hydrogenations
• Knowles's Nobel Lecture Asymmetric Hydrogenations
• WEB, Center for Oral History, William S. Knowles,weblink Science History Institute,
• BOOK, Michael A., Grayson, William S. Knowles, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Michael A. Grayson at St. Louis, Missouri on 30 January 2008, 30 January 2008,weblink Philadelphia, PA, Science History Institute, Chemical Heritage Foundation,

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