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Paul Rothemund (chemist, born 1904)

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Paul Wilhelm Karl Rothemund (January 13, 1904 – 1970) was a chemist who developed reactions related to porphyrins.[1] The Rothemund reaction the still-classic process for the synthesis of these compounds is named for him. His grandson Paul W. K. Rothemund is also a chemist.

Rothmund worked in the lab of Hans Fischer in Germany prior to being recruited by Charles F. Kettering in 1930 to come to Antioch College to study photosynthesis and chlorophyll.[1] In addition to being full professor at Antioch, he was affiliated with Ohio State University, ultimately becoming head of the chemistry department at the OSU Lima campus.[1]

In addition to his own porphyrin work, Rothemund had graduate students who studied other pyrrole-based structures, including a project that demonstrated the macrocyclic nature of hexahydroporphine.[1] That aspect is key to later interest in them as molecular containers for ion transport and molecular switches.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Chang, Chi K. (2016). "Paul Rothemund and S. Ferguson MacDonald, and their Namesake Reactions—The Influence of the Fischer School on my Life in Porphyrin Chemistry". Israel Journal of Chemistry. 56 (2/3): 130–143. doi:10.1002/ijch.201500043.
  2. ^ Kim, Dong Sub; Sessler, Jonathan L. (2015). "Calix[4]pyrroles: versatile molecular containers with ion transport, recognition, and molecular switching functions". Chem. Soc. Rev. 44 (2): 532–546. doi:10.1039/C4CS00157E. PMID 24984014.