Emanuele Paternò, 9th Marquess of Sessa was an Italian chemist and is credited with the discovery of the

Paternò–Büchi reaction The Paternò–Büchi reaction, named after Emanuele Paternò and George Büchi, who established its basic utility and form, is a photochemical reaction, specifically a 2+2 photocycloaddition, which forms four-membered oxetane rings from an excite ...

Biography

He was born in Palermo in 1847 as the

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

of Sessa, in a branch of the

House of Paternò A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

. He studied at the University of Palermo with Stanislao Cannizzaro.

Scientific career

In 1871 he became a lecturer at the

University of Torino The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, but returned to Palermo the following year as Cannizzaro's successor. In 1892 he became a professor at the University of Rome. His main area of research was

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 nm), visible light (400–7 ...

, and discovered the

in 1909. The reaction was improved by

George Büchi George Hermann Büchi (August 1, 1921 – August 28, 1998) was a Swiss organic chemist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Paternò's reaction", known since the early twentieth century, was renamed to the "Paternò–Büch ...

, its other namesake, in 1954.

Political career

Paternò was politically active. He served as the

Mayor of Palermo The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022. Overview ...

(1890–1892), and in 1890 he was appointed by King Victor Emmanuel III a member of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy. He was later elected vice president (1904-1919) of the Italian upper house.

References

1847 births 1935 deaths Italian chemists University of Palermo alumni Mayors of Palermo Scientists from Palermo {{chemist-stub