John Kenneth Stille (May 8, 1930 – July 19, 1989) was an American chemist who discovered the

Stille reaction The Stille reaction is a chemical reaction widely used in organic synthesis. The reaction involves the coupling of two organic groups, one of which is carried as an organotin compound (also known as organostannanes). A variety of organic electroph ...

. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

before serving in the Navy during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He received his Ph.D. from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, where he studied under

Carl Shipp Marvel Carl Shipp "Speed" Marvel (September 11, 1894 – January 4, 1988) was an American chemist who specialized in polymer chemistry. He made important contributions to U.S. synthetic rubber program during World War II, and later worked at developing ...

. Stille began his independent career at the University of Iowa in 1957 before moving to Colorado State University in 1977. While at the University of Arizona, Stille met his wife-to-be, Dolores Engelking. He and Dolores were married in 1958 and had two sons, John Robert and James Kenneth. Stille was killed at age 59 in the

United Airlines Flight 232 United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC ...

crash at

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. In 2010, 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 ...

was awarded to Richard F. Heck,

Ei-ichi Negishi was a Japanese chemist who was best known for his discovery of the Negishi coupling. He spent most of his career at Purdue University in the United States, where he was the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor and the director of the Negi ...

and Akira Suzuki for their work on palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The Stille reaction is a key part of palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling chemistry, and it is thought that Stille was a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize before his untimely death.

References

External links

* 1930 births 1989 deaths Organic chemists University of Arizona alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Colorado State University faculty 20th-century American chemists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1989 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Iowa United States Navy personnel of the Korean War {{US-chemist-stub