Louis Fieser

Louis Frederick Fieser
Born(1899-04-07)April 7, 1899
DiedJuly 25, 1977(1977-07-25) (aged 78)
Alma materWilliams College
Frankfurt University
Harvard University
Known forSynthesis of vitamin K
Quinone
Cortisone
Woodward–Fieser rules
Inventor of Napalm
SpouseMary Peters Fieser
AwardsGeorge C. Pimentel (1967)
William H. Nichols Medal (1963)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
Harvard University
ThesisReduction potentials of quinones. / A new absorbent for oxygen in gas analysis (1924)
Doctoral advisorJames Bryant Conant
Doctoral studentsDonald J. Cram
William Summer Johnson
Alfred Bader
Other notable studentsDonald J. Cram

Louis Frederick Fieser (April 7, 1899 – July 25, 1977) was an American organic chemist, professor, and in 1968, professor emeritus at Harvard University. He invented militarily effective napalm while at Harvard in 1942.[1] His award-winning research included work on blood-clotting agents including the first synthesis of vitamin K, synthesis and screening of quinones as antimalarial drugs, work with steroids leading to the synthesis of cortisone, and study of the nature of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

  1. ^ Nature volume 496, page 29 (04 April 2013) - "In 1942, in a secret lab at Harvard University in Massachusetts, chemist Louis Fieser and his team created napalm — an incendiary gel that sticks to skin and can burn down to the bone."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · View on Wikipedia

Developed by Nelliwinne