Record

EC - Certificates of election and candidature for Fellowship of the Royal Society
- 1986 - Certificates of Election 1986

RefNo	EC/1986/42
Previous numbers	Cert XXII, 42
Level	Item
Title	Eschenmoser, Albert Jakob: certificate of election to the Royal Society
Date	1985
Description	Certificate of Candidate for Election to Foreign Membership. Citation typed
Citation	Professor Albert Eschenmoser is an acknowledge leader in the field of organic chemistry; indeed, he is arguably the greatest living exponent of the art of organic synthesis. There are many reasons why he holds the position at the pinnacle, of which the most telling can be outlined here. There is a constant inventiveness which enriches his work so that completion of a synthesis adds a harvest of new and practical reactions which are are [sic] now a part of the chemist's armoury. Further, a successful synthesis is not the end, nor sufficient, for Eschenmoser. His targets are chosen so that he is able thereby to answer significant questions of reactivity, structure or conformation or he provides models which illuminate biosynthetic processes. He made his mark early when with others at the ETH (Zurich) he provided a mechanistic rationalisation of the structures of the major classes of terpenoids, especially of the diterpenes. This led to the famous Biogenetic Isoprene Rule. He then took up the synthetic challenge of colchicines, a remarkable natural tropolone derivative, and he developed an impressive route to this substance. But the full flowering of his genius came when he turned to the synthesis of vitamin B-12, the anti-pernicious anaemia factor, probably the most demanding synthesis ever undertaken. First came his striking synthesis of the parent corrin macrocycle in which new methods were devised for constructing vinylogous amidines. This success led to a collaboration with Professor R.B. Woodward on the synthesis of vitamin B-12 but Eschenmoser's clearly independent work resulted in a unique photochemical approach to the corrin macrocycle of the vitamin. Gradually his studies have shown that the corrin macrocycle can be formed in a remarkable number of ways and the mystery which once surrounded it has been dispersed. It is not possible even to outline Eschenmoser's massive, heroic effort on the synthesis of vitamin B-12 which was rich in new chemistry (e.g. the sulphur extrusion reaction and Eschenmoser fragmentation); it is enough to say that never before or since has such a complex molecule been built by organic chemists. His affection for tetrapyrrolic macrocycles and his deep appreciation of their enormous biological significance has led to explorations of several other classes of macrocycles related to the corrins. Two, the isobacteriochlorins and pyrrocorphins, are now known from direct biosynthetic studies by others to be of vital importance for the biosynthesis of vitamin B-12. A representative of the third class (the corphins) is very probably also a key biochemical intermediate. Eschenmoser has developed brilliant syntheses of all these systems and his exploration of their chemistry has provided clear pointers as to the probable mechanism of crucial biosynthetic steps. A striking example is his biomimetic study of the ring-contraction process which generates the corrin macrocycle from a ring which is one carbon atom larger; as a result, the entire chemistry falls beautifully into place. Eschenmoser's massive contributions to organic chemistry have been acclaimed world-wide and he has received many awards including the Society's Davy Medal, the Robert A. Welch Award and the Tetrahedron Prize. His election as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society would enrich the Fellowship and would be universally applauded.
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