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Remembering Van’t Hoff To celebrate C&EN’s 90th anniversary, one Editor’s Page each month examines materials from C&EN Archives. Featured articles are freely downloadable for one month. THE TETRAHEDRAL geometry of, and
but it has all to do with van’t Hoff’s magnificent insight of the stereochemical features of tetrahedral carbon.” Ben L. Feringa, of the University of Groningen, took that insight all the way to designing molecular systems based on molecular assembly and recognition, including rotary molecular motors. Others emphasized van’t Hoff’s contributions to physical chemistry and catalysis, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Chem-
the possibility of chirality at, tetravalent carbon is an extraordinarily useful concept, enabling us to think about molecules as three-dimensional objects even when we can’t see them. In 1999, I wrote about the intellectual climate that enabled the 22-year-old Dutch chemist Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff to propose carbon’s tetrahedral coordination. In an 1874 publication, not having yet received a Ph.D., he offered the theory to explain the existence of optical and other isomers. The chemistry elite then ridiculed van’t Hoff. In “Tetrahedral Carbon Redux” (C&EN, Sept. 6, 1999, page 28), I recall how Hermann Kolbe, then 59 and a more established chemist, attacked van’t Hoff’s idea as “phantasmagorical puffery,” IMPACT Willem K. istry in 1901. Albert Philipse, of Kegel (left), head of “fantastic foolishness,” and UU, talked about the thermochemistry at Utrecht “shallow speculations.” The dynamics of magnetic colloids. University, receives theory endures and has opened the citation award He said he wanted to remind the many fertile areas of inquiry. plaque from Seeman. audience that van’t Hoff’s work Some of those areas were on osmotic pressure “had an on display last month at a symeven wider impact in chemistry, posium at Utrecht University (UU), where physiology, and medicine” than his work van’t Hoff was studying when he formulaton organic chemistry. Similarly, Bert M. ed the theory. The Division of the History of Weckhuysen, also of UU, emphasized the Chemistry of the American Chemical Sociinfluence of van’t Hoff’s work in catalysis ety had awarded UU a Citation for Chemical and his place in the pantheon of earlyBreakthrough Award, on the basis of van’t 20th-century physical chemists, alongside Hoff’s tetrahedral carbon. Representing the Svante Arrhenius (Nobel Prize, 1903) and division, Jeffrey I. Seeman explained that Wilhelm Ostwald (Nobel Prize, 1909). “the term breakthrough refers to advances The symposium was a tribute to all of that have been revolutionary in concept, van’t Hoff’s chemistry, said E. W. (Bert) broad in scope, and long-term in impact.” Meijer, of Eindhoven. It was, he added, “a Tetrahedral carbon was the basis of much celebration of the great achievements of of the work discussed at the symposium. Dutch chemistry in fields like supramoFor example, Anja Palmans, of Eindhoven lecular chemistry, stereochemistry, and University of Technology, lectured about catalysis from today and the past.” chirality from the molecular to the supramolecular scale. And Jan H. van Maarseveen, of the University of Amsterdam, discussed epimerization-free C-terminal peptide activation. “This is an extremely technical title, Editor-in-chief Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS. CEN.ACS.ORG
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: A. Maureen Rouhi DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Josh Fischman MANAGING EDITOR: Robin M. Giroux
FROM THE EDITOR
