Klaus Bechgaard (5 March 1945 – 7 March 2017) was a Danish

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

and

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 ...

, noted for being one of the first scientists in the world to synthesize a number of organic

charge transfer complexes In chemistry, a charge-transfer (CT) complex or electron-donor-acceptor complex describes a type of supramolecular assembly of two or more molecules or ions. The assembly consists of two molecules that self-attract through electrostatic forces, ...

and demonstrate their superconductivity, therefore the name

Bechgaard salt In organic chemistry, a Bechgaard salt is any one of a number of organic charge-transfer complexes that exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures. They are named for chemist Klaus Bechgaard, who was one of the first scientists to synthesi ...

. These salts all exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures. The first

unconventional superconductor Unconventional superconductors are materials that display superconductivity which does not conform to either the conventional BCS theory or Nikolay Bogolyubov's theory or its extensions. History The superconducting properties of CeCu2Si2, a t ...

composed of organic material, was discovered by Bechgaard and Denis Jerome in 1979. This discovery garnered attention in the international scientific community, and for a period he was one of the most cited scientists in the field of natural sciences. He also received a nomination for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in chemistry for this discovery.

Research

Klaus Bechgaard did research at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

, where he also held a

Professorship Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

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, ...

until 1993. From 1993 until 2000 he was the chairman of the Department of Physics and Chemistry at Risø and in 2001 he was appointed head of the newly assigned Department of

Polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

Research at Risø. From 2001 and onwards he was the head of Risø's nano technology programme, and The Danish Center of Polymers which is a joint venture between the Technical University of Copenhagen and Risø. Bechgaard also conducted research in the field of

polymers A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

and

nano technology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

at the

Career and achievements

Education: * 1969: Cand scient. Organic Chemistry, University of Copenhagen * 1973: Lic.Scient. (Chemistry), University of Copenhagen. Academic Appointments: * 1974–1984: Lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. * 1984–1989: Research Professor at the University of Copenhagen * 1989–1993: Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. * 1993–2000: Head of the Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Chemistry. Risø * 2001–2003: In charge of the Interdisciplinary Nanotechnology Programme, Risø * 2001–2003: Temporary Head of The Danish Polymer Centre and the Polymer Department Risø * 2004–2017: Professor of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen (May 2004 – March 2017). Deputy Head of Department Other: * 2004: A. J. Heeger Endowed Chair, UCSB, Santa Barbara Honours: * 1983: Elected member of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences * 1984: Elected member of the Royal Danish Academy. * 2002: Elected member of the French Academy of Sciences Publications: * Approximately 370 peer reviewed papers in Chemistry and Solid State Physics, 7 patents Awards: http://www.kemifokus.dk/klaus-bechgaard-med-hjaelp-fra-kongen/ * 1981: The HN-prize * 1986: The B.S. Friedmann-prize, University of California * 1987: The Director Ib Henriksen's Foundation Research award * 1990: The

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Research award * 1991: EPS Europhysics Prize * 1991: The Hewlett Packard Europhysics prize * 1997: The NKT scientific prize * 2000: The EU Descartes prize * 2008: The Hartmann Foundation memorial prize

References

* * People, ideas, entrepreneurship & innovation.http://www.tmp.ucsb.edu/extracurricular/on_the_edge.html * D. Jérome, A. Mazaud, M. Ribault, K. Bechgaard, Superconductivity in a synthetic organic conductor: (TMTSF)2PF6], J. Phys. Lett. (Paris) 41, L95 (1980). * K. Bechgaard, K. Carneiro, M. Olsen, F. Rasmussen and C.S. Jacobsen, Zero-pressure organic superconductor: di-(tetramethyltetraselenafulvalenium)-perchlorate TMTSF)2ClO4 Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 852 (1981). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bechgaard, Klaus 1945 births 2017 deaths Danish scientists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Solid state chemists Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen

Research

Career and achievements

See also

References