Treat Baldwin Johnson (29 March 1875 – 28 July 1947) was an American

organic chemist 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, J. ...

and Sterling Professor at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1928–1943.

Early life and education

Treat Baldwin Johnson was born in Bethany, Connecticut, on 29 March 1875, the oldest of three sons of Dwight Lauren Johnson and Harriet Adeline Baldwin. He was educated at Ansonia high school and graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1898, where he obtained work as a laboratory assistant and began a

Ph.D. degree A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

under the supervision of H L Wheeler. By the time of its completion in 1901, Johnson had published seven scientific papers relating mainly to imidoesters.

Career

Johnson became an instructor of chemistry at the Sheffield Scientific School in 1902 and then an assistant professor in 1909. He specialized in

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, J.; ...

and was promoted to full

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

in 1914. In 1918, he received the Nichols Medal 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 d ...

in recognition of his work on

pyrimidine Pyrimidine (; ) is an aromatic, heterocyclic, organic compound similar to pyridine (). One of the three diazines (six-membered heterocyclics with two nitrogen atoms in the ring), it has nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3 in the ring. The other ...

s. and in 1919 was elected to the US

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. Yale awarded him a Sterling Professorship in 1928, which he retained until his retirement in 1943.

Research

Johnson supervised 94 graduate students, together generating 182 papers on pyrimidine chemistry in a total research output of 358 publications and 15 patents. The focus was

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

as applied to

nucleobases Nucleobases, also known as ''nitrogenous bases'' or often simply ''bases'', are nitrogen-containing biological compounds that form nucleosides, which, in turn, are components of nucleotides, with all of these monomers constituting the basic b ...

and

therapeutic A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

substances but he also worked on the chemical degradation of

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

, on organic sulfur compounds, and on proteins. He was the co-editor with E. M. Shelton, one of his students, of the

owner's manual An owner's manual (also called an instruction manual or a user guide) is an instructional book or booklet that is supplied with almost all technologically advanced consumer products such as vehicles, home appliances and computer peripherals. ...

for

A. C. Gilbert Company The A. C. Gilbert Company was an American toy company, once one of the largest in the world. Gilbert originated the Erector Set, which is a construction toy similar to Meccano in the rest of the world, and made chemistry sets, microscope kits, ...

chemistry set A chemistry set is an educational toy allowing the user (typically a teenager) to perform simple chemistry experiments. History Forerunners The forerunners of the chemistry set were 17th century books on "natural magick", "which all exce ...

s. Together with R. D. Coghill, Johnson was the first to discover the existence of 5-methylcytosine in nature, from

tuberculinic acid Tuberculinic acid is a noncanonical nucleic acid initially identified as the poison of ''Tubercle bacillus'' (='' Mycobacterium tuberculosis''), the principal causative bacterium of tuberculosis. Its discovery was one of the most important landmar ...

, a

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules wi ...

of ''

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (M. tb) is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, ''M. tuberculosis'' has an unusual, waxy coating on its c ...

''.

Selected publications

* * * * * *

Personal life

Johnson married Emma Estelle Amerman in 1904; they had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Treat Baldwin 1875 births 1947 deaths People from Bethany, Connecticut Yale University faculty Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni American chemists Yale Sterling Professors Presidents of the American Institute of Chemists