Richard R. Schrock
Encyclopedia
Richard Royce Schrock is an American chemist and Nobel laureate recognized for his contributions to the metathesis reaction used in organic chemistry
.
, Schrock went to Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California
. He holds a B.A. (1967) from the University of California, Riverside
and a Ph. D. (1971) from Harvard University
. At Harvard he studied under J.A. Osborn. In 1971-72, he carried out postdoctoral studies at the University of Cambridge
with Lord Jack Lewis. In 1972, he was hired by DuPont
, where he worked at the Experimental Station
in Wilmington, Delaware
in the group of George Parshall
. He joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1975 and became full professor
in 1980.
He has held his current post, the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry, at MIT since 1989. Schrock is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, National Academy of Sciences
and was elected to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University in 2007.
He is co-founder and member of the board of, a Swiss-based company focused on the development and application of proprietary metathesis catalyst.
He married Nancy Carlson in 1971 and has two children, Andrew and Eric. Nancy Schrock is the Thomas F. Peterson, Jr. Conservator of Special Collections for the MIT Libraries. The family lives in Winchester, Massachusetts
.
, with Robert H. Grubbs
and Yves Chauvin
, for his work in the area of olefin metathesis
, an organic synthesis
technique. Schrock was the first to elucidate the structure and mechanism of so called 'black box' olefin metathesis catalysts. Initial work at DuPont involved the synthesis of tantalum alkylidenes, alkylidenes being a crucial resting state in the catalytic cycle of olefin metathesis. His work at MIT has led to a detailed understanding of a group of molybdenum alkylidenes and alkylidynes which are active olefin and alkyne methathesis catalysts, respectively. Schrock has done much work to demonstrate that metallacyclobutanes are the key intermediate in olefin metathesis
, with metallacyclobutadienes being the key intermediate in alkyne methathesis.
Many supporting ligands have been explored in efforts to better understand the nature of the single molecule catalysts, most notably 2,6-diisopropylphenylimido and adamantylimido, as well as various tert-butyl alkoxides with varying degrees of fluorination. The prototypical Schrock catalyst is (R"O)2(R'N)Mo(CHR) where R = tert-butyl, R' = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, and R" = C(Me)(CF3)2. Such catalysts are now commercially available from such major suppliers as Sigma-Aldrich, and are used frequently in synthetic applications of olefin metathesis. Schrock's work is ongoing with goals of furthering the understanding of metathesis selectivity, developing new catalyst architectures, as well as projects outside of metathesis, such as elucidating the mechanism of dinitrogen fixation
and developing single molecule catalysts which form ammonia from dinitrogen, mimicking the activity of nitrogenase
enzymes in biology.
Schrock carbenes are named after Schrock.
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
.
Biography
Born in Berne, IndianaBerne, Indiana
Berne is a city in Monroe and Wabash townships, Adams County, Indiana, United States, 35 miles south of Fort Wayne. The population was 4,150 at the 2000 census...
, Schrock went to Mission Bay High School in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. He holds a B.A. (1967) from the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
and a Ph. D. (1971) from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. At Harvard he studied under J.A. Osborn. In 1971-72, he carried out postdoctoral studies at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
with Lord Jack Lewis. In 1972, he was hired by DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, where he worked at the Experimental Station
DuPont Experimental Station
The DuPont Experimental Station is the largest research and development facility of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Located on the banks of the Brandywine Creek in Wilmington, Delaware, it is home to some of the most important discoveries of the modern chemical industry...
in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
in the group of George Parshall
George Parshall
George W. Parshall is a distinguished member of the organometallic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis communities and has played a key role in advising the U.S...
. He joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1975 and became full professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in 1980.
He has held his current post, the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry, at MIT since 1989. Schrock is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
and was elected to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University in 2007.
He is co-founder and member of the board of, a Swiss-based company focused on the development and application of proprietary metathesis catalyst.
He married Nancy Carlson in 1971 and has two children, Andrew and Eric. Nancy Schrock is the Thomas F. Peterson, Jr. Conservator of Special Collections for the MIT Libraries. The family lives in Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, eight miles north of Boston. With its agricultural roots having mostly disappeared, it is now an affluent suburb...
.
Nobel Prize
In 2005, Schrock received the Nobel Prize in ChemistryNobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
, with Robert H. Grubbs
Robert H. Grubbs
Robert Howard Grubbs is an American chemist and Nobel laureate.As he noted in his official Nobel Prize autobiography, "In some places, my birthplace is listed as Calvert City and in others Possum Trot [NB: both in Marshall County]...
and Yves Chauvin
Yves Chauvin
Yves Chauvin is a French chemist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is honorary research director at the Institut français du pétrole and a member of the French Academy of Science. Chauvin received his degree from the Lyon School of Chemistry, Physics and Electronics in 1954.He was awarded the 2005...
, for his work in the area of olefin metathesis
Olefin metathesis
Olefin metathesis or transalkylidenation is an organic reaction that entails redistribution of alkylene fragments by the scission of carbon - carbon double bonds in olefins . Its advantages include the creation of fewer sideproducts and hazardous wastes. Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, and Richard R...
, an organic synthesis
Organic synthesis
Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has...
technique. Schrock was the first to elucidate the structure and mechanism of so called 'black box' olefin metathesis catalysts. Initial work at DuPont involved the synthesis of tantalum alkylidenes, alkylidenes being a crucial resting state in the catalytic cycle of olefin metathesis. His work at MIT has led to a detailed understanding of a group of molybdenum alkylidenes and alkylidynes which are active olefin and alkyne methathesis catalysts, respectively. Schrock has done much work to demonstrate that metallacyclobutanes are the key intermediate in olefin metathesis
Olefin metathesis
Olefin metathesis or transalkylidenation is an organic reaction that entails redistribution of alkylene fragments by the scission of carbon - carbon double bonds in olefins . Its advantages include the creation of fewer sideproducts and hazardous wastes. Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, and Richard R...
, with metallacyclobutadienes being the key intermediate in alkyne methathesis.
Many supporting ligands have been explored in efforts to better understand the nature of the single molecule catalysts, most notably 2,6-diisopropylphenylimido and adamantylimido, as well as various tert-butyl alkoxides with varying degrees of fluorination. The prototypical Schrock catalyst is (R"O)2(R'N)Mo(CHR) where R = tert-butyl, R' = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, and R" = C(Me)(CF3)2. Such catalysts are now commercially available from such major suppliers as Sigma-Aldrich, and are used frequently in synthetic applications of olefin metathesis. Schrock's work is ongoing with goals of furthering the understanding of metathesis selectivity, developing new catalyst architectures, as well as projects outside of metathesis, such as elucidating the mechanism of dinitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen fixation is the natural process, either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia . This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life, e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and...
and developing single molecule catalysts which form ammonia from dinitrogen, mimicking the activity of nitrogenase
Nitrogenase
Nitrogenases are enzymes used by some organisms to fix atmospheric nitrogen gas . It is the only known family of enzymes that accomplish this process. Dinitrogen is quite inert because of the strength of its N-N triple bond...
enzymes in biology.
Schrock carbenes are named after Schrock.
Awards and honours
- ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry (1985)
- Harrison Howe Award of the Rochester ACS section (1990)
- Alexander von Humboldt Award (1995)
- ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry (1996)
- Bailar Medal from the University of Illinois (1998)
- ACS Cope Scholar Award (2001)
- Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Lecturer and Medalist (2002)
- Sir Edward Frankland Prize Lecturer (2004)
- Nobel Prize in ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
(2005) - F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry (2006)
- Theodore Richards Medal from the Northeast ACS section (2006)
- August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the German Chemical Society (2005)
- Basolo Medal (2007)
Publications
- Schrock, R. R. "Reduction of Carbon Monoxide. Past Research Summary", Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, (1982). - Schrock, R. R. "Chemistry of Bimetallic Linked Cyclopentadienyl Complexes: Progress Report, 1 December 1986 --30 November 1989", Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, (1989). - Schrock, R. R. "Controlled Synthesis of Polyenes by Catalytic Methods. Progress Report, December 1, 1989 -- November 30, 1992", Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, (1992). - Schrock, R. R. "Controlled Synthesis of Polyenes by Catalytic Methods. Progress Report, December 1, 1992 -- November 30, 1993", Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT), United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, (December 1993).
External links
- Photograph, Biography and Bibliographic Resources, from the Office of Scientific and Technical InformationOffice of Scientific and Technical InformationThe Office of Scientific and Technical Information is a component of the Office of Science within the U.S. Department of Energy...
, United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material... - Schrock Nobel Prize Lecture
- Schrock Research Group
- Research Summary
- Schrock wins Nobel Prize
- http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/Lectureships/lectures.asp?series=DK&Year=2001
- Richard R. Schrock Patents
- UC Newswire story on Nobel Prize
- A video interview with Richard R. Schrock