Paul von Ragué Schleyer

Paul von Ragué Schleyer (February 27, 1930 – November 21, 2014) was an American physical organic chemist whose research is cited with great frequency. A 1997 survey indicated that Dr. Schleyer was, at the time, the world's third most cited chemist, with over 1100 technical papers produced. He was Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University, professor and co-director of the Institute for Organic Chemistry (Institut für organische Chemie) at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in Germany, and later Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He published twelve books in the fields of lithium chemistry, ab initio molecular orbital theory and carbonium ions. He was past president of the World Association of Theoretically Oriented Chemists, a fellow of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry.[1][2]

Paul von Ragué Schleyer
1987
Born(1930-02-27)February 27, 1930
Cleveland, Ohio
DiedNovember 21, 2014(2014-11-21) (aged 84)
Ila, Georgia
Alma materPrinceton University (A.B. 1951) Harvard University (Ph.D. 1957)
Scientific career
InstitutionsPrinceton University

University of Erlangen–Nuremberg

University of Georgia
ThesisBridged Ring Systems (1957)
Doctoral advisorPaul Doughty Bartlett
Doctoral studentsJayaraman Chandrasekhar, Michael Bühl, Michelle Coote
Other notable studentsDebbie C. Crans, Peter Schreiner, Clémence Corminboeuf, Michelle Coote

Early life

Born on February 27, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, Schleyer graduated as the valedictorian from his class at Cleveland West Technical High School in 1947. Schleyer received his A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1951 magna cum laude. He then earned his Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1957, where he worked under physical organic chemist Paul Doughty Bartlett.[1]

Princeton University years

Schleyer began teaching at Princeton in 1954 and became Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry there. Working within the Frick Laboratory on the Princeton campus, Schleyer was energetic both as a teacher and a researcher. While at Princeton, Schleyer married Inga Venema in 1969. During his Princeton years, Schleyer was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a J.J. Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Humboldt Special Fellowship. At Princeton he was always present in his combination laboratory/office until late in the evening.

Synopsis of research and publications

Several of his twelve monographs are collaborations with Nobel Laureates J.A. Pople, H.C. Brown and G.A. Olah. In his research, Schleyer has made contributions in the area of synthesis of adamantane and other cage molecules by rearrangement mechanisms. He also discovered new types of hydrogen bonding. Schleyer also identified solvolysis mechanisms, including reactive intermediates.

As a pioneer in the field of computational chemistry, Schleyer identified a number of new molecular structures, especially related to lithium chemistry and electron deficient systems. He has further contributed to a gamut of topics in organometallic chemistry, physical organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry and other theoretical chemical fields. His research as of 2006 was rejuvenating interest in aromaticity and investigating planar hypercoordination of carbon.

Honors

Beyond the fellowships noted above, Schleyer received numerous prestigious honors including:

References
  1. Susan J. Ainsworth (November 25, 2014). "Paul von Ragué Schleyer Dies At 84". ACS News.
  2. Schaefer, H. F. (2014). "Paul von Ragué Schleyer (1930–2014) Chemist who launched the study of caged hydrocarbons". Nature. 517 (7532): 22. doi:10.1038/517022a. PMID 25557708.
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