Elias James Corey
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Elias James Corey
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1990
Born: 12 July 1928, Methuen, MA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Prize motivation: “for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis”
Prize share: 1/1
Work
Nature is full of organic substances—a varied number of chemical compounds that contain the element carbon. At the end of the 1950s, E. J. Corey began developing a new approach to producing, or synthesizing, organic substances. The desired molecule was analyzed and viewed as a combination of smaller components united by essential bonds. The analysis was repeated until known and available molecules were obtained. From these, the desired molecule could then be assembled in several steps through chemical reactions.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
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