Roger Arthur Sheldon (born 1942) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: is emeritus professor of Biocatalysis and

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, ...

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Education

Sheldon was educated at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

where he was awarded a PhD in 1967 for research on the chemical reactions of the

tetraphenyldiphosphine Tetraphenyldiphosphine is the organophosphorus compound with the formula Ph2sub>2, where Ph = phenyl In organic chemistry, the phenyl group, or phenyl ring, is a cyclic group of atoms with the formula C6 H5, and is often represented by the sym ...

. supervised by Stuart Trippett and Stephen Davidson.

Career and research

Sheldon is distinguished for his pioneering and wide-ranging contributions to

catalytic oxidation Catalytic oxidation are processes that rely on catalysts to introduce oxygen into organic and inorganic compounds. Many applications, including the focus of this article, involve oxidation by oxygen. Such processes are conducted on a large scale ...

, biocatalysis and

green chemistry Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While environmental che ...

and for bridging the traditional gap between organic synthesis and

catalysis Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

. He introduced the concept of the E-factor which is now used by companies globally for assessing the efficiency and environmental impact of chemical processes. He has consistently emphasised the need for a new paradigm in the evaluation of efficiency in chemical processes from the traditional concept of

chemical yield In chemistry, yield, also referred to as reaction yield, is a measure of the quantity of moles of a product formed in relation to the reactant consumed, obtained in a chemical reaction, usually expressed as a percentage. Yield is one of the pr ...

to one that assigns value to

waste minimisation Waste minimisation is a set of processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced. By reducing or eliminating the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, waste minimisation supports efforts to promote a more sustainab ...

and is an avid proponent of elegance and precision in organic synthesis.

Awards and honours

Sheldon was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015 and a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is an award conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. FRSC award Achieving Fellow status in the chemical profession denotes to the wider community a high level of ...

(FRSC) in 1980. He was awarded the

Green Chemistry Award First awarded in 2001, the Green Chemistry Award is presented every two years by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for advances in environmentally focused chemistry. In addition to a prize of £2000, winners of the award complete a UK based lectu ...

by the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

in 2010, and made an Honorary Fellow of the same society in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Roger Arthur 1942 births Living people British chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Alumni of the University of Leicester Academic staff of the Delft University of Technology