Franz Sondheimer
FRS (17 May 1926 – 11 February 1981) was a German-born British professor of chemistry. In 1960, he was awarded the
Israel Prize for his contributions to science.
Biography
Franz Sondheimer was born in Stuttgart on 17 May 1926, the second son of Max and Ida Sondheimer. His father ran the family glue manufacturing business. His elder brother, Ernst, was Professor of Mathematics at Westfield College.
Having business connections in England, Max Sondheimer managed to get his family to London in September 1937. Sondheimer, knowing no English, began his schooling in England first at Southend and then at Hailey School in Bournemouth. In 1940, having passed
Common Entrance
Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the selective admissions process at age 13, though ten independent schools do select at 11 using different test papers. They are set ...
, he attended the part of
Highgate School remaining in London, where he obtained
School Certificate
The School Certificate was a qualification issued by the Board of Studies, New South Wales, typically at the end of Year 10. The successful completion of the School Certificate was a requirement for completion of the Higher School Certificate. T ...
in nine subjects in 1942. A little over a year later he gained entrance to Imperial College, where he studied until the end of the war, coming top of his year in the final examination. He was awarded a PhD in 1948, having studied acetylenic compounds under the guidance of
Ian Heilbron
Sir Ian Morris Heilbron DSO FRS (6 November 1886 – 14 September 1959) was a Scottish chemist, who pioneered organic chemistry developed for therapeutic and industrial use.
Early life and education
Heilbron was born in Glasgow on 6 November ...
and
E R H Jones.
Sondheimer moved to Harvard in 1948, to join
Woodward’s group in their project on steroid synthesis. He next moved, early in 1952, to
Syntex in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
to succeed
Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi (October 29, 1923 – January 30, 2015) was an Austrian-born Bulgarian-American pharmaceutical chemist, novelist, playwright and co-founder of Djerassi Resident Artists Program with Diane Wood Middlebrook. He is best known for his ...
as head of research. During his four year stay he helped create short direct routes to cortisone, and to all of the major sex hormones. He thoroughly enjoyed his time there and was much loved and respected. He explored much of the region in his own
Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft.
In 1956, aged 30, Sondheimer was appointed head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the
Weizmann Institute
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli univ ...
. He set up a strong team and “reverted to his old love, acetylene chemistry, as the basis for his most original and fundamental contribution, the chemistry of the annulenes.”
[
In 1963 he accepted, and then rejected, the offer of a prestigious professorship at the University of Chicago, accepting instead one of the newly created Royal Society Research Professorships at the University of Cambridge. He had considerable freedom, set up a large international group, and was made a Fellow of ]Churchill College
Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities.
In 1958, a trust was establish ...
. Nonetheless, he was not happy at Cambridge and transferred in 1967 to University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. In May of that year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
. His membership citation read:'' Professor Sondheimer is distinguished for his work on the total synthesis of a range of natural products, the partial synthesis of steroid hormones and analogues, and especially for his syntheses of the hitherto unknown class of conjugated unsaturated macrocyclic compounds which has led to some interesting theoretical conclusions. On these topics he has so far published 167 papers.'' However, funding problems, the difficulty of recruiting foreign postdoctoral students, and his continued focus on now-unfashionable areas of research, all contributed to this not being a satisfactory chapter in his career.
Franz Sondheimer suffered from prolonged depression. He died on 11 February 1981 in his office at Stanford’s Stauffer Laboratory, where he had been on sabbatical. He had apparently committed suicide by taking cyanide.
Sondheimer's notable students include K. C. Nicolaou, Raphael Mechoulam
Raphael Mechoulam ( he, רפאל משולם, bg, Рафаел Мешулам; born 5 November 1930) is an Israeli organic chemist and professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Mechoulam is best known for h ...
, Timothy Walsgrove, and Henry N. C. Wong.
Awards and honours
* In 1960, Sondheimer was awarded the Israel Prize, in exact sciences.
* In 1961, he received the Corday-Morgan medal and Prize.
* In 1967, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
See also
* List of Israel Prize recipients
References
Further reading
* Who's Who
External links
Biography on UCL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sondheimer, Franz
1926 births
1981 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Society
Harvard Fellows
British chemists
Organic chemists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Jewish scientists
Academics of University College London
Academics of Imperial College London
Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge
People educated at Highgate School
Israel Prize in exact science recipients
Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were chemists
Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science
British expatriates in the United States
British expatriates in Israel
Scientists from Stuttgart
1981 suicides
Suicides by cyanide poisoning