Gilbert Stork was an American chemist best known for his research on organic synthesis and, in particular, for his contributions to achieving the stereoelectronic control of chemical reactions. He developed a broad variety of chemical procedures that have been adopted worldwide and enable the production of important biologically active compounds
Gilbert’s studies of free radical cyclisations created a powerful approach for assembling polycyclic products, recasting free radical chemistry as a manageable — rather than difficult — tool for synthesis. In addition, the Stork enamine alkylation, which he developed, is named in his honour.
He received numerous awards in recognition of his work, including the US National Medal of Science in 1982 and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1995. Gilbert was elected to the membership of many prestigious scientific organisations, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Professor Gilbert Stork ForMemRS died on 21 October 2017.
Awards
-
Wolf Prize
In the field of chemistry for designing and developing novel chemical reactions which have opened new avenues to the synthesis of complex molecules, particularly polysaccharides and many other biologically and medicinally important compounds.
