DONALD CRAM
Name: Donald James Cram
Born: (April 22, 1919)
Died: (June 17, 2001)
Donald James Cram (April 22, 1919 - June 17, 2001) was an American chemist who
shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “synthesizing three-dimensional
molecules that could mimic the functioning of natural molecules. He also won
the National Academy of Science Award in the Chemical Sciences.
Cram was born in Chester, Vermont, and died in Palm Desert, California.
Cram was educated at Rollins College, Florida, and at the University of Nebraska
- Lincoln, and he received his doctorate in organic chemistry from Harvard
University in 1947. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Los
Angeles in 1947 and became a full professor there in 1956.
Cram expanded upon Charles Pedersen's ground-breaking synthesis of crown ethers,
basically two-dimensional organic compounds that are able to recognize and
selectively combine with the ions of certain metal elements. Cram synthesized
molecules that took this chemistry into three dimensions, creating an array of
differently shaped molecules that could interact selectively with other
chemicals because of their complementary three-dimensional structures. His work
represented a large step toward the synthesis of functional laboratory-made
mimics of enzymes and other natural molecules whose special chemical behavior is
due to their characteristic structure. He also did work in stereochemistry and
Cram's rule of asymmetric induction is named after him.
Name: Donald James Cram
Born: (April 22, 1919)
Died: (June 17, 2001)
Donald James Cram (April 22, 1919 - June 17, 2001) was an American chemist who
shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “synthesizing three-dimensional
molecules that could mimic the functioning of natural molecules. He also won
the National Academy of Science Award in the Chemical Sciences.
Cram was born in Chester, Vermont, and died in Palm Desert, California.
Cram was educated at Rollins College, Florida, and at the University of Nebraska
- Lincoln, and he received his doctorate in organic chemistry from Harvard
University in 1947. He joined the faculty of the University of California, Los
Angeles in 1947 and became a full professor there in 1956.
Cram expanded upon Charles Pedersen's ground-breaking synthesis of crown ethers,
basically two-dimensional organic compounds that are able to recognize and
selectively combine with the ions of certain metal elements. Cram synthesized
molecules that took this chemistry into three dimensions, creating an array of
differently shaped molecules that could interact selectively with other
chemicals because of their complementary three-dimensional structures. His work
represented a large step toward the synthesis of functional laboratory-made
mimics of enzymes and other natural molecules whose special chemical behavior is
due to their characteristic structure. He also did work in stereochemistry and
Cram's rule of asymmetric induction is named after him.