Dewan Singh Bhakuni (30 December 1930 – 22 April 2021) was an Indian natural product chemist, stereochemist who was a director general-grade scientist of the

Central Drug Research Institute The Central Drug Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, India, employing scientific personnel from various areas of biomedical sciences. Prof. Tapas Kumar Kundu, a molecular biologist, academician and recipien ...

. He is known for his researches on the biogenesis of

alkaloids Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar st ...

and is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, India and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1975, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

D. S. Bhakuni, born on 30 December 1930 in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, graduated in chemistry from Allahabad University and completed his master's degree at the same institution. He started his career in 1958 as a teaching faculty but a year later, joined

(CDRI), Lucknow and worked there for three years. His next move was to National Botanical Research Institute in 1962 but later went to the UK to pursue his doctoral studies. He secured a Phd in 1965 from the University of London under the guidance of

Sir Derek Barton Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton (8 September 1918 – 16 March 1998) was an English organic chemist and Nobel Prize laureate for 1969. Education and early life Barton was born in Gravesend, Kent, to William Thomas and Maude Henrietta Barton ( ...

of Imperial College London, a renowned organic chemist and 1969

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

; his thesis being ''Studies in alkaloid biosynthesis''. He would also receive the degree of Doctor of Science from London University in 1978. Returning to India, he joined CDRI in 1965 where he spent the rest of his official career till his superannuation in 1990 as a director general-grade scientist. In between, he had a stint at University of Concepción, Chile as a visiting professor. Post-retirement, he was selected as an emeritus scientist by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Bhakuni died on 22 April 2021, at the age of 90.

Legacy

Bhakuni, during the course of his active researches, studied the structure and stereochemistry of several indigenous plants and synthesized them for finding out the biologically active compounds; his work on the biogenesis of alkaloids was based on these examinations. These studies are known to be pioneering studies on alkaloid biosynthesis and he developed a new methodology for determining the absolute configuration of alkaloids. Thus, he was able to identify the anti-cancer, anti-leishmanial, anti-viral and anti-allergic properties of a number of plants through mass spectrometric and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques. Bhakuni documented his researches in a book, ''Bioactive Marine Natural Products'' and over 300 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. His writings have been cited by several authors and he has mentored 40 doctoral scholars in their studies. A multidisciplinary program, under the title, ''Bioactive Substances from Indian Ocean'' was initiated by him during his days at the Central Drug Research Institute which is still active. He is a former president of the Indian Chemical Society (1996–97) and the Sectional Committee of

Indian Science Congress Association Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...

(1994) and sat in the council of the Indian National Sciences Academy from 1982 to 1984.

Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Bhakuni the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1975. A University Grants Commission National Lecturer (1982), he received the Ranbaxy Research Award in 1988 and Sir C. V. Raman Award in 1989. He is also a recipient of Acharya P. C. Ray Memorial Award which he received in 2000. He has delivered a number of award orations; Platinum Jubilee Lecture of

(1993) and Dr R. C. Shah Memorial Lecture of Bombay University (1993) are some of the notable ones among them. He is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies, Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Citations

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Selected bibliography

Books

Articles

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Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhakuni, Dewan Singh 1930 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science Scientists from Uttar Pradesh Indian organic chemists Alumni of the University of London Academics of Imperial College London Academic staff of the University of Concepción Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India University of Allahabad alumni 20th-century Indian chemists