George Andrew Olah (born Oláh András György; May 22, 1927 – March 8, 2017) was a Hungarian-American
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
. His research involved the generation and reactivity of
carbocations via
superacids
In chemistry, a superacid (according to the classical definition) is an acid with an acidity greater than that of 100% pure sulfuric acid (), which has a Hammett acidity function (''H''0) of −12. According to the modern definition, a superacid ...
. For this research, Olah was awarded a
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
in 1994 "for his contribution to carbocation chemistry."
He was also awarded the
Priestley Medal, the highest honor granted by the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
and
F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
in 1996.
After the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
, he emigrated to the United Kingdom, which he left for Canada in 1964, finally resettling in the United States in 1965. According to
György Marx
György Marx (25 May 1927 – 2 December 2002) was a Hungarian physicist, astrophysicist, science historian and professor. He discovered the lepton numbers and established the law of lepton flavor conservation.
Life
He was the first non-Briti ...
, he was one of
The Martians.
Early life and education
Olah was born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, Hungary, on May 22, 1927, to a Jewish couple, Magda (Krasznai) and Gyula Oláh, a lawyer. After the high school of Budapesti Piarista Gimnazium (
Scolopi fathers), he studied under organic chemist
Géza Zemplén
Géza Gusztáv Zemplén, Ph.D. (26 October 1883 – 24 July 1956) was a notable Hungarian chemist, organic chemistry, organic chemist, professor, and chemistry author. He was a recipient of the Kossuth Prize, a member of the Hungarian Academy ...
at the Technical University of Budapest, now the
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( hu, Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is the most significant university of technology in Hungary and is considered the world's olde ...
, where he earned M.S. and Ph.D degrees in Chemical Engineering.
From 1949 through 1954, he taught at the school as a professor of organic chemistry.
In the subsequent two years, from 1954 to 1956, he worked at the Research Institute of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, where he was Associate Scientific Director and Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry.
Career and research
As a result of the
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hung ...
, he and his family moved briefly to England and then to Canada, where he joined
Dow Chemical in
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...
, Ontario, with another Hungarian chemist, Stephen J. Kuhn. Olah's pioneering work on carbocations started during his eight years with Dow. In 1965, he returned to academia at
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, chairing the Department of Chemistry from 1965 to 1969, and from 1967 through 1977 he was the C. F. Maybery Distinguished Professor of Research in Chemistry.
In 1971, Olah became a
naturalized citizen
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
of the United States.
He then moved to the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
in 1977.
At USC, Olah was a distinguished professor and the director of the
Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. Starting in 1980, he served as the Distinguished Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor
of Chemistry and later became a distinguished professor in USC's School of Engineering.
In 1994, Olah was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
"for his contribution to
carbocation chemistry". In particular, Olah's search for stable nonclassical
carbocations led to the discovery of protonated
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...
stabilized by
superacids
In chemistry, a superacid (according to the classical definition) is an acid with an acidity greater than that of 100% pure sulfuric acid (), which has a Hammett acidity function (''H''0) of −12. According to the modern definition, a superacid ...
, like FSO
3H-SbF
5 ("
Magic Acid").
:CH
4 + H
+ → CH
5+
Because these cations were able to be stabilized, scientists could now use
infrared spectroscopy
Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or function ...
and
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fie ...
to study them in greater depth, as well as use them as catalysts in organic synthesis reactions.
Olah, with Canadian chemist
Saul Winstein
Saul Winstein (October 8, 1912 – November 23, 1969) was a Jewish Canadian chemist who discovered the '' Winstein reaction.'' He argued a non-classical cation was needed to explain the stability of the norbornyl cation. This fueled a debat ...
, was also involved in a career-long battle with
Herbert C. Brown
Herbert Charles Brown (May 22, 1912 – December 19, 2004) was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.
Life and career
Brown was born Herbert Brovarnik in London, to Ukrainian Jewis ...
of
Purdue over the existence of so-called "
nonclassical" carbocations – such as the
norbornyl cation, which can be depicted as cationic character delocalized over several bonds. Olah's studies of the cation with NMR spectroscopy provided more evidence suggesting that Winstein's model of the non-classical cation, "featuring a pair of
elocalizedelectrons smeared between three carbon atoms," was correct.
In 1997, the Olah family formed an
endowment fund
A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...
(the George A. Olah Endowment) which grants annual awards to outstanding chemists, including the George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry, formerly known as the ACS Award in Petroleum Chemistry. The awards are selected and administered by the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
.
Later in his career, his research shifted from
hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...
s and their transformation into fuel to the
methanol economy The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. It offers an alter ...
, namely generating methanol from methane.
He joined with
Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal in a 1990 res ...
,
Anne Korin, and
James Woolsey
Robert James Woolsey Jr. (born September 21, 1941) is an American political appointee who has served in various senior positions. He headed the Central Intelligence Agency as Director of Central Intelligence from February 5, 1993, until January 1 ...
in promoting a flexible-fuel mandate initiative. In 2005, Olah wrote an essay promoting the methanol economy in which he suggested that methanol could be produced from
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 ...
gas (H
2) and industrially derived or atmospheric
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...
(CO
2), using energy from renewable sources to power the production process.
Personal life
He married Judit Ágnes Lengyel (''Judith Agnes Lengyel'') in 1949, and they had two children, György (''George''), born in Hungary in 1954, and Ronald, born in the U.S. in 1959.
Olah died on March 8, 2017, at his home in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
, California.
After his death, the Hungarian government said that the "country has lost a great patriot and one of the most outstanding figures of Hungarian scientific life."
Awards and honours
*1970 ACS Henry Morley Medal
*1989 California Scientist of the Year
*1989 Roger Adams Award in Organic Chemistry
*1993
Chemical Pioneer Award from the
American Institute of Chemists
The American Institute of Chemists (AIC) is an organization founded in 1923 with the goal of advancing the chemistry profession in the United States. The institute is known for its yearly awards recognizing contributions of individuals in this fi ...
*1994
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
[
*1996 ACS F. A. Cotton Medal
*1996 Golden Plate Award of the ]American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
*1997 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1997.
* 2001 Arthur C. Cope Award
The Arthur C. Cope Award is a prize awarded for achievement in the field of organic chemistry research. It is sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund, and has been awarded annually since 1973 by the American Chemical Society. It consists of $25,000, ...
*2001 Elected a member of the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
*2005 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
See also
*The Martians (scientists)
"The Martians" ( hu, "A marslakók") is a term used to refer to a group of prominent Hungarian scientists (mostly, but not exclusively, physicists and mathematicians) of Jewish descent who emigrated from Europe to the United States in the early ha ...
References
External links
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1994 ''My Search for Carbocations and Their Role in Chemistry''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olah, George Andrew
1927 births
2017 deaths
Nobel laureates in Chemistry
American Nobel laureates
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Hungarian Nobel laureates
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Hungarian chemists
Jewish chemists
American chemists
Jewish American scientists
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
Hungarian Jews
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Scientists from Budapest
University of Southern California faculty
Dow Chemical Company employees
Members of the American Philosophical Society