Thérèse Tréfouël (née Boyer, 19 June 1892 — 9 November 1978) was a French chemist. Along with her husband, Jacques Tréfouël, she is best known for her research on sulfamides, a novel class of antibiotic drugs.

Education and personal life

Between 1913 and 1919, Tréfouël studied chemistry at the Faculté des Sciences, in Paris. She met her husband Jacques when they were assigned as lab partners after both failing to sign up to a practical course on time. Jacques and Thérèse married in 1921. They were known for the strength of their partnership and collaboration. Even after their retirement from scientific research, the Tréfouëls continued to collaborate on various projects: Jacques was fascinated by metalwork and woodwork, and would construct furniture which Thérèse upholstered.

Research and career

In the early 1920s, Thérèse and her husband worked at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

, in the laboratory of

Ernest Fourneau Ernest Fourneau (4 October 1872 – 5 August 1949) was a French pharmacist graduated in Pharmacy 1898 for the Paris university specialist in medicinal chemical and pharmacology who played a major role in the discovery of synthetic local anesthetic ...

— known as the father of

medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developm ...

. By studying derivatives of arsenic, they created drugs that could be used against

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

(Stovarsol),

African trypanosomiasis African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

(Orsanine, moranyl), and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

(Rodoquine). Stovarsol and Orsanine are both

isomer In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. Iso ...

s of acetylaminohydroxyphenylarsonic acid. This was the first demonstration that isomers of the same molecule could have such different and specific properties. The Tréfouëls received several awards for this work, including the Prix Parkin from the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

(1927), the Prix Louis (1932) and the Prix Paultre (1932) from the

Académie de Médecine An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. They are best known for their 1935 co-discovery, together with the pharmacologist

Daniel Bovet Daniel Bovet (23 March 1907 – 8 April 1992) was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters. He is best known for his ...

and the bacteriologist Frederico Nitti, of

sulfanilamide Sulfanilamide (also spelled sulphanilamide) is a sulfonamide antibacterial drug. Chemically, it is an organic compound consisting of an aniline derivatized with a sulfonamide group. Powdered sulfanilamide was used by the Allies in World War II ...

, a novel

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

. In 1938, Jacques started his own laboratory at the Pasteur Institute. In 1940, Jacques was appointed as director of the institute, at which point Tréfouël took over the management of the laboratory. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Tréfouëls continued their research into sulfamides. In 1954, they established the use of diaminodiphenyl sulfone for the treatment of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Thérèse officially became the head of the laboratory in 1955, while Jacques served as the director of the Institute for a total of 24 years. The Tréfouëls were nominated for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1950. In 1955, they were nominated for the Prix du Conseil National de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens, for their lifetime achievements in medicinal chemistry. Thérèse retired in 1963, and died in 1978, a year after her husband.

Legacy

The Jacques and Thérèse Tréfouël Square in Paris was named after Tréfouël and her husband.

Bibliography

* ''Traité de chimie organique / T. 22, Méthodes générales utilisées en chimie industrielle organique, grandes synthèses, matières colorantes, tanins et tannage, hauts polymères synthétiques, chimie du caoutchouc naturel, savons et produits similaires, parfumerie, industries de fermentation, chimiothérapie'' (1953)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tréfouël, Thérèse 1892 births 1978 deaths 20th-century French women scientists 20th-century French chemists French women chemists French women academics