Emanuele Paternò, 9th Marquess of Sessa was an Italian chemist and politician and is credited with the discovery of the Paternò–Büchi reaction.

Biography

He was born in Palermo in 1847 as the

Marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

of Sessa, in a branch of the

House of Paternò A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

. He studied at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

with

Stanislao Cannizzaro Stanislao Cannizzaro ( , , ; 13 July 1826 – 10 May 1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and for his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860. Biography Ca ...

Scientific career

In 1871 he became a lecturer at the

University of Torino The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, but returned to Palermo the following year as Cannizzaro's successor. In 1892 he became a professor at the University of Rome. His main area of research was

photochemistry Photochemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the chemical effects of light. Generally, this term is used to describe a chemical reaction caused by absorption of ultraviolet (wavelength from 100 to 400 Nanometre, nm), visible ligh ...

, and discovered the Paternò–Büchi reaction in 1909. The reaction was improved by

George Büchi George Hermann Büchi (August 1, 1921 – August 28, 1998) was a Swiss organic chemist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research un ...

, its other namesake, in 1954.

Political career

Paternò was politically active. He served as the

Mayor of Palermo The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022. Overview ...

(1890–1892), and in 1890 he was appointed by King Victor Emmanuel III a member of the

Senate of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

. He was later elected vice president (1904-1919) of the Italian upper house.

References

1847 births 1935 deaths Italian chemists University of Palermo alumni Mayors of Palermo Scientists from Palermo {{chemist-stub