Satinder Vir Kessar (born 9 June 1932) is an Indian synthetic organic chemist, academic and an Emeritus professor of

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

. He is known for his researches in steroidal and

heterocyclic chemistry A heterocyclic compound or ring structure is a cyclic compound that has atoms of at least two different elements as members of its ring(s). Heterocyclic chemistry is the branch of organic chemistry dealing with the synthesis, properties, and ...

. He is an elected fellow of

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable deve ...

and all the three major Indian science academies, viz. The

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

, the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

and the

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu * Sudha Bhattacharya * Ch ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

S. V. Kessar was born in

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...

, in the undivided Punjab of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

on 9 June 1932 to Durga Dass, a lawyer and his homemaker wife, Susheela Devi. His schooling was at DAV Senior Secondary School, Hoshiarpur and later at

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

after which he graduated in chemistry from

in 1953. While continuing his studies at the same institution for MSc by research, he appeared for the Civil Services Examination in 1953 and stood among the top 100 candidates. Choosing to pursue a career in chemistry, he passed MSc (hons) and moved to the US to join the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

where he studied under the guidance of M. C. Kloetzel to secure a PhD in 1958. He stayed in the US for a while more to complete his post-doctoral studies at the laboratory of S. W. Benson and returned to India to start his career as an assistant professor at PEC University of Technology (then known as Punjab Engineering College). Returning to his alma mater, Panjab University in 1959 as a lecturer, he spent the rest of his academic career there where he served as a Reader (from 1963) and as a Professor (from 1974). On his superannuation from service, he was made the Emeritus Professor of the university. In between, he also served as a CSIR Distinguished Chair from 1992 to 1997, the first professor to hold the position. Kessar is married to Urmi, his colleague at Panjab University and an art historian and they have two daughters, Bindu and Radha. The couple lives in Chandigarh.

Legacy

Kessar's days with S. M. Mukherji during his master's degree research produced the first of his several articles, ''A Novel Synthesis of 4-Methyl-1 : 2-Benzanthracene'' which was published in

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

in 1954. Later, he worked on the synthesis of pyrrolines which earned him his doctoral degree in 1958. Through his later day researches, he built the infrastructure of

solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

alkaloids, accomplished the synthesis of azasteroids using a new pathway, and developed a protocol for linking aromatic rings which he utilized for the synthesis of the phenanthridine ring system and other heterocyclic systems as well as the synthesis of

aporphine Aporphine is an alkaloid with the chemical formula . The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) name of aporphine is ''6-methyl-5,6,6a,7-tetrahydro-4H-dibenzo e,guinoline.'' It is the core chemical substructure of the aporphine ...

and related alkaloids. Among the other natural products and drugs he synthesized include steroidal sapogenins, phenanthridine, aporphine, quinculidine, dextrophan and venlafaxine. He also elucidated the mechanistic pathways of the transformations and developed methodologies for benzyne cyclisation of anils and Lewis acid- promoted lithiation, both have since become standard synthetic procedures. Kessar has authored several articles detailing his research findings which have been published in peer-reviewed journals. He holds patent for one of the processes he has developed. He served the executive council of Panjab University Alumni Association during 2014–15 and has written a book on the city of

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...

. He also serves a member of the councils of the

and the

(INSA) and was the vice president of INSA Council during 1993–94.

Awards and honors

Besides being a National Fellow of the

University Grants Commission of India University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory body set up by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India in accordance to the UGC Act 1956 and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenanc ...

(1976–78) and an elected fellow of

(1998), Kessar is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India,(1996), Indian National Science Academy (1977) and the

(1975) and an honorary fellow of the Punjab Academy of Sciences. The

awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972. Madhya Pradesh Council of Science and Technology awarded him the Jawaharlal Nehru National Science Award in 1991 and he received the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 1992; INSA would honor him again in 1996 with the Meghnad Saha Medal. The Association Award of the

Indian Science Congress 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 ...

reached him in 2008 as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award of the

Indian Chemical Society The Indian Chemical Society is a scientific society dedicated in the field of chemistry from India. It was established in 1924 with Prafulla Chandra Ray as its founding president. The same year the society started to publish its "Quarterly Journa ...

and he has delivered the Basudev Banerjee Memorial Lecture of the society. He is also a recipient of the Prem Singh Medal, Gold Medal of

Chemical Research Society of India Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) is an India based scientific society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, professio ...

, Hari Om Award and the Goyal Prize of the Kurukshetra University.

Arkivoc ''Arkivoc'' (''Archive for Organic Chemistry'') is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all aspects of organic chemistry. It is published by the non-profit organization Arkat USA, which was established in 2000 through a personal ...

journal issued a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

Biography

Legacy

Awards and honors

Patents

Selected bibliography

See also

Notes

References

Further reading