Shirō Akabori ( Akahori Shirō), 20 October 1900 – 3 November 1992 in Chihama, Ogasa (now Kakegawa,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

), was a Japanese chemist and university professor, known for the

Akabori amino-acid reaction There are several Akabori amino acid reactions, which are named after Shirō Akabori (1900–1992), a Japanese chemist. In the first reaction, an α-amino acid is oxidised and undergoes decarboxylation to give an aldehyde at the former α positi ...

Life and education

After graduating from public school, he began training as a pharmacist at Chiba medical school, now

Chiba University is a national university in the city of Chiba, Japan. It offers Doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in 1949 from exist ...

, in 1918. After graduating in 1921, he joined the pharmaceutical company Momotani Juntenkan. The company hired him as an assistant to the chemist Nishizawa Yūshichi of the

Imperial University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, where he was taught by Ikeda Kikunae. In the summer of the same year, he followed Nishizawa for a short stay at the

Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

to learn organic chemistry from Majima Rikō. Here he then began research in this field thanks to a scholarship from the company

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, interlayer insulating materials for semiconductor packages for use in personal computers, cooking oils, frozen foods, beverages, sweeteners, amino acids, an ...

, which he completed in 1925. From 1930 he held lectures under Majima and obtained a doctoral degree in 1931. From 1932 to 1935, he began further studies abroad. After his return, Akabori became an assistant professor at

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

, in 1939 full professor, in 1947 dean of the faculty of natural sciences, and in 1949 dean of the new Faculty for

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

. In 1953 he gained the additional title of professor of the newly-founded Institute for Applied Microbiology at the University of Tokyo. From 1958 he was the Director of the "Protein-Institute" (, "Tanpakushitsu Kenkyūjo") at Osaka University. Beginning in 1960, Akabori served two terms as rector of the University. He retired in 1966. He also became a member of Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1966. and president of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) in 1967. He died in Shizuoka Prefecture on November 3, 1992.

Work

Akabori's main research focus was on the chemistry of

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

s and

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

s, as well as the biochemistry of their oxidation processes. As a result, he developed a method for the reduction of α-amino acids to α-amino aldehydes (Akabori reduction) in 1931, and in 1943 a synthesis of amino alcohols (Akabori synthesis). In 1952 he reported a method for determination of ''C''-terminal amino acids in proteins by their reaction with

hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...

. In this case, all amino acids (except the ''C''-terminal one) are transformed into

hydrazide Hydrazides in organic chemistry are a class of organic compounds with the formula RNHNH2 where R is acyl (R'CO-), sulfonyl (R'SO2-), or phosphoryl (R'2P(O)-). Unlike hydrazine and alkylhydrazines, hydrazides are nonbasic owing to the inductive infl ...

s. In 1955 he received the prize of Japanese Academy of Sciences and ten years later, the Japanese Order of Culture. The same year, Akabori was recognized as a

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

and a year later he became an honorary citizen of his hometown. In 1975 Akabori received the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akabori, Shirō 1992 deaths 1900 births People from Shizuoka Prefecture Japanese chemists Persons of Cultural Merit Members of the Japan Academy Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Academic staff of Osaka University Academic staff of Tohoku University 20th-century chemists Pages with unreviewed translations