Gilbert J. Stork
| Gilbert Stork | |
|---|---|
| Born |
31 December 1921 Brussels, Belgium |
| Died | 21 October 2017 (aged 95) |
| Nationality | Belgian, American |
| Alma mater |
University of Florida B.S. 1942 University of Wisconsin–Madison Ph.D 1945 |
| Awards |
ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (1957) NAS Award in Chemical Sciences (1982) National Medal of Science (1982) Wolf Prize (1996) The Ryoji Noyori Prize (2003) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions |
Harvard University Columbia University |
| Notable students |
Eugene van Tamelen (1951) |
Eugene van Tamelen (1951)
Jiro Tsuji (1960)
John E. McMurry (1967)
Paul Grieco (1970)
Michael E. Jung (1973)
Samuel J. Danishefsky
Adusumilli Srikrishna
Clayton Heathcock (1963‑64)
Steven M. Weinreb (1966‑67)
Andreas Pfaltz (1978‑79)
Eiichi Nakamura (1978‑80)
Gilbert Stork (December 31, 1921 – October 21, 2017) was a organic chemist. For a quarter of a century he was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Columbia University. He is known for making significant contributions to the total synthesis of natural products, including a life-long fascination with the synthesis of quinine. In so doing he also made a number of contributions to mechanistic understanding of reactions, and performed pioneering work on enamine chemistry, leading to development of the Stork enamine alkylation. It is believed he was responsible for the first planned stereocontrolled synthesis as well as the first natural product to be synthesised with high stereoselectivity.
Stork was also an accomplished mentor of young chemists and many of his students have gone on to make significant contributions in their own right.
Gilbert Stork was born in the Ixelles municipality of Brussels, Belgium in December 31, 1921. The oldest of 3 children, his middle brother, Michel, died in infancy, but he remained close with his younger sister Monique his whole life. His family had Jewish origins, although Gilbert himself didn't recall them being religiously active. The family moved to Nice when Gilbert was about 14 (circa. 1935) and remained there until 1939. At the outbreak of World War II the family fled to New York, where his father’s older brother, Sylvain, had already emigrated.
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