George Andrew Olah
(May 22, 1927 – March 8, 2017) was an Hungarian-born American
chemist
. His research involves the generation and reactivity of
carbocations
using
superacids
. For this research, Olah was awarded a
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1994.
[1]
The
American Chemical Society
gave him its highest honor, the
Priestley Medal
.
Olah was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 22, 1927. He studied high school at Budapesti Piarista Gimnazium (
Scolopi fathers
). He studied, then taught, at what is now
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
. Following the
1956 Hungarian Revolution
, he and his family moved briefly to
England
, They then moved to
Canada
. He joined
Dow Chemical
in
Sarnia
, Ontario, with another Hungarian chemist, Stephen J. Kuhn. During Olah's eight years with Dow, he started to study carbocations.
[2]
In 1965, he left Dow for
Case Western Reserve University
. He joined the
University of Southern California
faculty in 1977. In 1971, Olah became a
naturalized citizen
of the United States.
Olah was a distinguished professor at the
University of Southern California
and the director of the
Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute
. In 2005, Olah wrote an essay promoting the
methanol economy
.
[3]
The Olah family formed an
endowment fund
(the George A. Olah Endowment). It grants annual awards to outstanding chemists. The
American Chemical Society
selects and administers the awards.
[4]
Olah died on March 8, 2017 at his home in
Beverly Hills
,
California
, aged 89.
[5]
The search for stable
carbocations
led to the discovery of
protonated
methane
. (Protonated methane is a methane molecule (CH
4
) with an extra proton giving it a
positive
charge
.) Protonated methane was
stabilized
by
superacids
, like FSO
3
H-SbF
5
("
Magic Acid
").
- CH
4
+ H
+
→ CH
5
+
Olah also studied how
hydrocarbons
are used as
fuel
.
Olah also disagreed for many years with
Herbert C. Brown
of
Purdue University
over the existence of so-called "
nonclassical
" carbocations ? such as the
norbornyl
cation
. They can be shown as
cationic
character shared (
delocalized
) over several bonds.
In recent years, his research has shifted from
hydrocarbons
(including hydrocarbon
fuel
) to the
methanol economy
. He joined
Robert Zubrin
,
Anne Korin
, and
James Woolsey
in calling for a
Flexible-fuel vehicle
mandate
initiative
.
- ↑
"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1994"
. The Nobel Foundation
. Retrieved
2008-12-22
.
- ↑
George A. Olah (1965).
Friedel-Crafts and Related Reactions
. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- ↑
George A. Olah (2005). "Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy".
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
.
44
(18): 2636?2639.
doi
:
10.1002/anie.200462121
.
PMID
15800867
.
- ↑
"George A. Olah Award in Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry",
Chemical & Engineering News
, January 19, 2009, p. 74
- ↑
"GEORGE OLAH, NOBEL PRIZE WINNING HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN CHEMIST, DIES AT 89"
. Hungary Today. March 9, 2017. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2017
. Retrieved
March 9,
2017
.
- Olah, G.
"Superacid Catalyzed Depolymerization and Conversion of Coals. Final Technical Report. [HF:BF{sub 2}/H{sub 2}]"
,
University of Southern California
,
United States Department of Energy
, (1980).
- Olah, G. A.
"Superacid Catalyzed Coal Conversion Chemistry. 1st and 2nd Quarterly Technical Progress Reports, September 1, 1983-March 30, 1984."
,
University of Southern California
,
United States Department of Energy
, (1984).
- Olah, G. A.
"Superacid Catalyzed Coal Conversion Chemistry. Final Technical Report, September 1, 1983-September 1, 1986."
,
University of Southern California
,
United States Department of Energy
, (1986).
|
---|
1901?1925
| |
---|
1926?1950
| |
---|
1951?1975
| |
---|
1976?2000
| |
---|
2001?present
| |
---|