Charles Loring Jackson (April 4, 1847 – October 31, 1935) was the first significant organic chemist in the United States. He brought

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

to the United States from Germany and educated a generation of American organic chemists.

Personal life

Charles Loring Jackson was born in Boston on April 4, 1845. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1867 after studying in private schools in Boston. He joined the Harvard chemistry department as an assistant lecturer immediately after graduation and on his twenty-first birthday became an assistant professor in 1871. He was the third member of the department which consisted of

Josiah Parsons Cooke Josiah Parsons Cooke (October 12, 1827 – September 3, 1894) was an American scientist who worked at Harvard University and was instrumental in the measurement of atomic weights, inspiring America's first Nobel laureate in chemistry, Theodore R ...

and

Henry Barker Hill Henry Barker Hill (April 27, 1849 – April 6, 1903) was an American chemist and director of the Chemistry Laboratory at Harvard University. Biography Henry Barker Hill was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on April 27, 1849, the son of the Reveren ...

. In 1870, Jackson developed a chemistry course which evolved into Chemistry I, that he taught for more than forty years. As an adult Jackson enjoyed amateur theatricals and writing poetry and romantic fiction. In retirement he enjoyed gardening at his beautiful estate in

Pride's Crossing ''Pride's Crossing'' is a play by Tina Howe. It received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play and was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play focuses on 90-year-old Mabel Tidings Bigelow, who as a you ...

near

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

Learning chemistry

While studying chemistry at Harvard in 1873, Jackson had a slight attack of rheumatic fever. When he returned back to work his professor advised that he take a year's leave of absence and study in Europe. He, therefore, traveled to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to study at

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. There he trained under

Robert Bunsen Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (; 30 March 1811 – 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...

, a specialist in gas analysis and platinum metals. Although he did not intend to make organic chemistry his specialty, he also worked with the organic chemist

August Wilhelm von Hofmann August Wilhelm von Hofmann (8 April 18185 May 1892) was a German chemist who made considerable contributions to organic chemistry. His research on aniline helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry, and his research on coal tar laid the g ...

. However, Hofmann inspired Jackson to pursue organic chemistry as a career. Jackson was known to have said that he learned to "use his mind" under Hofmann, "an activity that Bunsen rather discouraged." During Jackson's time in Heidelberg Hofmann was writing his

Faraday Lectures Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, ...

Justus von Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at t ...

and had Jackson correct his

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. This was a great opportunity for Jackson to develop an intimate association with Hofmann. In 1874 Jackson published his first paper which dealt with organic selenium compounds.

Research at Harvard

In 1875 after returning to Harvard Jackson synthesized the first new organic compound made in a Harvard laboratory, ''p''- bromobenzyl

bromide A bromide ion is the negatively charged form (Br−) of the element bromine, a member of the halogens group on the periodic table. Most bromides are colorless. Bromides have many practical roles, being found in anticonvulsants, flame-retardant ...

. This provided a method of producing substituted

benzyl In organic chemistry, benzyl is the substituent or molecular fragment possessing the structure . Benzyl features a benzene ring () attached to a methylene group () group. Nomenclature In IUPAC nomenclature, the prefix benzyl refers to a substi ...

compounds with interesting results, such as a synthesis of

anthracene Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) of formula C14H10, consisting of three fused benzene rings. It is a component of coal tar. Anthracene is used in the Economic production, production of the red dye alizarin and other dyes ...

. In the following years he developed syntheses of

flavoring A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gusta ...

compounds

curcumin Curcumin is a bright yellow chemical produced by plants of the ''Curcuma longa'' species. It is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric (''Curcuma longa''), a member of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is sold as a herbal supplement, cosmetic ...

and

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now used ...

. He also synthesised

benzine Petroleum benzine is a hydrocarbon-based solvent mixture that is classified by its physical properties (e.g. boiling point, vapor pressure) rather than a specific chemical composition. This complicates distinction within the long list of petroleu ...

tri-

sulfonic acid In organic chemistry, sulfonic acid (or sulphonic acid) refers to a member of the class of organosulfur compounds with the general formula , where R is an organic alkyl or aryl group and the group a sulfonyl hydroxide. As a substituent, it is kn ...

and developed what is now a traditional method of nitrating organic materials, preliminary

sulfonation Aromatic sulfonation is an organic reaction in which a hydrogen atom on an arene is replaced by a sulfonic acid functional group in an electrophilic aromatic substitution. Aryl sulfonic acids are used as detergents, dye, and drugs. Stoichiometry an ...

followed by

nitration In organic chemistry, nitration is a general class of chemical processes for the introduction of a nitro group into an organic compound. The term also is applied incorrectly to the different process of forming nitrate esters between alcohols and ...

. In the late 1880s he discovered the reaction between highly substituted

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

halides In chemistry, a halide (rarely halogenide) is a binary chemical compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a fluor ...

and

malonic ester Diethyl malonate, also known as DEM, is the diethyl ester of malonic acid. It occurs naturally in grapes and strawberries as a colourless liquid with an apple-like odour, and is used in perfumes. It is also used to synthesize other compounds su ...

in which a

halogen The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of five or six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), astatine (At), and tennessine (Ts). In the modern IUPAC nomenclature, this group is ...

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

is replaced by a

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

, his most prolific source of

scientific publication : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scienti ...

s. He also did considerable work on the derivatives of ''o''-quinone, although he missed the discovery of the parent compound by only a small margin.

The European connection

The importance of Jackson's studies in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to the development of the organic chemistry industry in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

should not be underestimated. In the 1870s when Jackson traveled to Europe there literally was no organic synthesis being done in the

either in academia or in industry. This short-coming became very evident with the advent of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when the supply of strategic organic materials from

to the United States was cut off. Had the United States been unable to quickly develop an organic synthesis capability, the outcome of the World Wars might have been quite different. Several of Jackson's students at Harvard,

Roger Adams Roger Adams (January 2, 1889 – July 6, 1971) was an American organic chemist who developed the eponymous Adams' catalyst, and helped determine the composition of natural substances such as complex vegetable oils and plant alkaloids. He isolat ...

Farrington Daniels Farrington Daniels (March 8, 1889 – June 23, 1972) was an American physical chemist who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy. Biography Daniels was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 8, 1889. Dani ...

, Frank C. Whitmore, James B. Sumner and

James Bryant Conant James Bryant Conant (March 26, 1893 – February 11, 1978) was an American chemist, a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Conant obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard in 1916 ...

to name a few, were instrumental in developing organic synthesis in the United States. Some of them had traveled to Germany to study

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

using the connections Jackson had established. In Jackson's time academic research was generally quite open, resulting in an open and

internationalist Internationalist may refer to: * Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders * Liberal internationalism, a doctrine in international relations * Internationalist/Defencist Schism, socialists opposed to ...

philosophy among scientists. The World Wars put this philosophy at odds with commonly held beliefs about

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily asc ...

s and technology leakage.

Accomplishments

"In 1897, he received the coveted Erving professorship. He belonged to the American and the German chemical societies and the American and the British Associations for the Advancement of Science, being a corresponding member of the latter. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the Natural Academy of Sciences in 1883. From 1894 to 1903, he was Chairman of the Division of Chemistry. Due to his interest in the student body, he was, for fifty years, a proctor in the dormitories of the Harvard Yard--Gray 5 from 1868 to 1871 and Holsworthy II from 1871 to 1918."

Publications

Fiction

*Charles Loring Jackson, ''The Gold Point and Other Strange Stories'', Stratford Company of Boston (1926)

Scientific

*Charles Loring Jackson, ''Biographical memoir of Henry Barker Hill, 1849-1903'', National Academy of Sciences (January 1, 1905) ASIN B0008AF3CW *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On certain colored substances derived from nitro compounds'', ASIN B0008CBY1E *Charles Loring Jackson, ''Charles Robert Sanger: iographical notice', Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ASIN B0008CWAYE *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On certain nitro derivatives of the vicinal tribrombenzol'', Harvard University—Chemical Laboratory Contributions, ASIN B0008CBYHS *Charles Loring Jackson, ''Memoir of Josiah Parsons Cooke, 1827-1894'', National Academy of Sciences (January 1, 1902) ASIN B0008AF390 *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On certain derivatives of orthobenzoquinone'', American Academy of Arts and Sciences (January 1, 1900) ASIN B0008CBYIC *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On the action of sodic ethylate on tribromdinitrobenzol'', American Academy of Arts and Sciences (January 1, 1898) ASIN B0008CBYH8 *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On certain derivatives of symmetrical trichlorbenzol'', American Academy of Arts and Sciences (January 1, 1898) ASIN B0008CBYHI *Charles Loring Jackson, ''On the oxide of dichlormethoxyquinone-dibenzoylmethylacetal'', American Academy of Arts and Sciences (January 1, 1898) ASIN B0008CBYI2 *Charles Loring Jackson, ''Samuel Cabot'', John Wilson and Son, University Press (January 1, 1908) ASIN B0008D0U36

References

Frank C. Whitmore, ''Charles Loring Jackson'', Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 18, No. 8 (1926)

External links

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Charles Loring 19th-century American chemists American science writers American short story writers Harvard College alumni Harvard University faculty Organic chemists 1847 births 1935 deaths 20th-century American chemists