CMA 4 |
| He may not have synthesized the first alkaloid or even prepared the first synthetic medicinal substance, but Percy Julian's 1935 total synthesis of the potent cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine was a global trailblazing event. Carried out in an ill equipped undergraduate institution, with novice student co-researchers, in refutation of the work of a world-renowned British professor, and under enormous time constraints, the eight-step synthesis was a creative tour de force. Regiospecific placement of three pendant methyl moieties established once and for all their location around the molecule's periphery. Use of a benzylidene to control mono-alkylation and a reductive cyclization to generate a pyrroloindole constituted impressive and creative chemistry then and now. As a process suitable for use at manufacturing level, Julian designed in an atom economy in his multistep route that would impress a serious present-day student of process R&D. Later in his career Julian applied similar principles to sterol-to-steroid conversions which formed the basis of a significant revenue stream for the Glidden Company and Julian Laboratories. |
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Dr. Percy L. Julian - Scientist, Humanist, Educator, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Trailblazer
8:30 AM-11:50 AM, Monday, 11 September 2006 Hilton San Francisco -- Yosemite A, Oral
Committee on Minority Affairs |