Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-01-01 / 1. szám
Special iíeature-ODf-^Ihe-iíínnth Agricultural Academy, Copenhagen; Chemical Institute of the Medical Faculty, The University of Pecs, Hungary; Gates and Crellin Laboratories of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. The major fields of investigation in which he became internationally famous include carotenoids, carbohydrates, vitamins, organic compounds, plant physiology and chemical genetics, chromatographic methods and reduction methods. The Bibliography of papers published by L. Zechmeister and co-authors in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry, 1913-1958 (Wien: Springer, 1958. 22 p.) lists 257 published items (books and periodical articles). To list a few of them: Carotinoide; ein biochemischer Bericht über pflanzliche und tierische Polyenfarbstoffe (Berlin, 1934); Cis-trans isomeric carotenoids, vitamins A, and arylpolyenes (New York, 1962); Principles and practice of chromatography (New York, 1943, first published in German); Progress in chromatography, 1938-1947 (London, 1950). Many of his works between 1923 and 1940 were published in his native Hungarian. Koloman Laki (b. 1909, Szolnok, Hungary) received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Szeged in 1936. He belonged to the inner circle of the study group headed by Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. Before coming to the United States Laki was professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the Budapest University. For years he has been the chief of the Laboratory of Biophysical Chemistry, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. He is the author of well over 100 scientific papers. His monographic publications include Fibrinogen (New York: M. Dekker, 1968, 398 p.); Contractile proteins and muscle (New York: M. Dekker, 1971.606 p.) and The biological role of the clot-stabilizing enzymes: transglutaminase and factor X/ÍI (Editor: K. Laki, New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1972. 348 p.). This collective volume contains papers presented at a conference sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences and held on November 18-19, 1971. Recently, Koloman Laki received an honorary doctor’s degree from the Lajos Kossuth University of Debrecen. Gabor Fodor (b. 1915, Budapest) graduated from the Technische Hochschule in Graz, Austria in 1934, and obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Szeged in 1937. For years he was associated with the University of Szeged as professor of chemistry and headed the research laboratory of stereochemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Fodor was awarded the Kossuth Prize twice (1950, 1954) for chemistry. In 1961 he was an Overseas Fellow of the Churchill College, Cambridge, Great Britain. He has participated in many international conferences in Europe and North America. He published three books and more than 200 scientific papers in stereochemistry and organic compounds in which fields Gabor Fodor is regarded one of the world’s leading authorities. His multivolume monograph Szerves kémia was translated into German entitled Organische Chemie (Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1965-). Since 1967 he has taught and conducted research as a professor of West Virginia University, Morgantown. George A. Olah (b. 1927, Budapest) graduated from the Budapest University of Technical Sciences in 1949 where he held assistant and associate professorship between 1949 and 1956. In the meantime George Olah was the Associate Director of the Chemical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1954-1956. Since 1965 Olah has been associated with the Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University as professor of chemistry. He published more than 450 scientific papers and has 60 patents issued in his name. Olah’s contributions to chemistry cover a wide field of electrophilic organic reactions, particularly carbonium ions, Friedel-Crafts chemistry, aliphatic and aromatic substitutions, and hydrocarbon chemistry. George Olah has demonstrated unusual breadth and originality as evidenced by his major research accomplishments which may be summarized: 1/ the pioneering of new techniques and solvent systems (of the superacid type) which allow the study of reactive intermediates, particularly carbonations, as long-lived stable species in solutions; 2/ the application of physical methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance and Raman spectroscopy to the study of these systems; 3/ Fourier transform carbon-13 nmr and X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopic study of organic ions; 4/ extensive structural and mechanistic studies involving a large variety of organic systems; 5/ studies in Friedel-Crafts chemistry, including new catalyst systems, new reactions (such as acylations, formylations with formyl fluoride, nitration with nitronium salts, new alkylation methods, etc.) and selective substitution methods; 6/ study of electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions; 7/ study of electrophilic aliphatic substitution and addition reactions and in general single bond reactivity; 8/ new approaches in petroleum chemistry particularly relating to the superacid catalyzed processes of saturated hydrocarbons; 9/ study of biologically related alkylating, acylating and phosphorylating systems; 10/ studies relating to organofluorine and phosphorus compounds; 11/ inorganic chemical studies of ionic complexes and strong acid systems. Camille Sandorfy (b. 1920, Budapest) of the University of Montreal and a member of the Royal Society of Canada has acquired international recognition for his research in quantum chemistry and molecular spectroscopy. His major contributions include Electronic spectra and quantum chemistry (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1964, 385 p. Tr. from the French original). John C. Polanyi (b. 1929) is the son of the late Michael Polanyi. He has been working at the University of Toronto, Canada. Winner of numerous Canadian and international awards in chemical research, he is a member of the Royal Society of Canada. He published many items in his field. The Chemical kinetics (London-Baltimore, Md., 1972. 322 p.) appeared under his editorship. JANUARY 1988 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 23
