Eric Block

Eric Block was born in New York City in 1942. He received his B.S. (1962) degree from Queens College of the City University of New York, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After a research assistant position at Brookhaven National Laboratories he attended Harvard University, where he received his M.S. (1964), and Ph.D. (1967) degrees as both a National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Fellow, working with E. J. Corey as a graduate student in the area of organic synthesis using organosulfur compounds. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard with E. J. Corey, Block joined the faculty at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1967, becoming Professor in 1979. In 1981, he moved to the University at Albany, SUNY, where he was Chair of Chemistry from 1985–1991. He was named Distinguished Professor in 2002 and Carla Rizzo Delray Professor in 2006. In 2018 he became Emeritus Professor at Albany and Visiting Professor in the Chemistry Department at University of California, Irvine.

Block has also held visiting positions at the Harvard University (1974), University of Bologna (1984), Weizmann Institute (2000), Wolfson College, University of Cambridge (2006), Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013), and University of California, Los Angeles (2018).

Block is known for his research on organosulfur and organoselenium chemistry, particularly that of genus Allium plants, such as garlic and onion. This work is summarized in two monographs, two review articles, and is the subject of a 2014 American Chemical Society Webinar.{{cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/acs-webinars/culinary-chemistry/alliums-garlic.html|title=Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science - American Chemical Society|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=2018-05-15|archive-date=2016-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514221347/http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/acs-webinars/culinary-chemistry/alliums-garlic.html|url-status=dead}} Block's monograph on alliums{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/dining/09curious.html | title=The Chemical Weapons of Onions and Garlic| newspaper=The New York Times| date=2010-06-08| last1=McGee| first1=Harold}} has been published in a Chinese edition. Since 2005, another major area of collaborative research with neurobiology and computational chemistry colleagues has been the study of the molecular basis for olfaction, particularly the role of metals such as copper in olfaction and molecular mechanisms for sensing thiols{{cite web|url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/copper-key-to-our-sensitivity-to-rotten-eggs-foul-smell/1017492.article|title=Copper key to our sensitivity to rotten eggs' foul smell|website=chemistryworld.com|access-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510113946/https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/copper-key-to-our-sensitivity-to-rotten-eggs-foul-smell/1017492.article|archive-date=10 May 2017}} as well as musk, such as muscone. With his collaborators Block has also examined the plausibility of the controversial vibration theory of olfaction, reaching the conclusion that it is implausible.{{cite journal |author=Everts, S. | title=Receptor research reignites a smelly debate|journal=Chem. Eng. News |volume=93|issue=18| pages=29–30|year=2015}}{{cite journal |author=Vosshall, L. B. | title=Laying a controversial smell theory to rest|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=112|issue=21| pages=6525–6526|year=2015|doi=10.1073/pnas.1507103112|pmid=26015552| pmc=4450429|bibcode=2015PNAS..112.6525V| doi-access=free}}

Since 1994, Block has been an editorial board member of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.{{cite web|url=https://pubs.acs.org/page/jafcau/editors.html|title=Editorial Board|website=pubs.acs.org}} Block also served as associate editor (1984–1988) and editorial board member (1984–2000), for Phosphorus, Sulfur, Silicon and the Related Elements, as editorial board member and founding member of Heteroatom Chemistry, 1990–1995,{{cite journal|title=Masthead|date=1 December 1990|journal=Heteroatom Chemistry|volume=1|issue=6|pages=fmi|doi=10.1002/hc.520010601|doi-access=free}} and as associate editor for Organic Reactions, Volume 30.{{cite web|url=http://organicreactions.org/index.php/Olefin_Synthesis_via_Deoxygenation_of_Vicinal_Diols|title=Olefin Synthesis via Deoxygenation of Vicinal Diols - Organic Reactions Wiki|website=organicreactions.org|access-date=2018-06-03|archive-date=2022-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023125240/http://organicreactions.org/index.php/Olefin_Synthesis_via_Deoxygenation_of_Vicinal_Diols|url-status=dead}} Block was a founding member and international advisory board member of the International Conference on Heteroatom Chemistry (ICHAC) series of meetings,{{cite web|url=https://groups.chem.ubc.ca/ichac2017/index.php?page=advisoryboard|title=ICHAC 2017|website=groups.chem.ubc.ca}} and Chair of ICHAC-2, held in Albany, NY in 1989.{{cite journal|title=In memory of the late Professor Shigeru Oae|first=Atsuyoshi|last=Ohno|date=3 June 2018|journal=Heteroatom Chemistry|volume=13|issue=5|pages=388–389|doi=10.1002/hc.10071|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=https://www.unioviedo.es/ichac9/goto.php?section=general_information|title=ICHAC|website=www.unioviedo.es}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was also Chair of the Symposium on New Organosulfur Chemistry, Pacifichem 2015 in Honolulu, HI.

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1984–1985){{cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/eric-block/ |title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Eric Block |publisher=Gf.org |date=2014-06-20 |access-date=2018-06-03}}
• ACS Award for the Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, American Chemical Society (1987){{cite web |url=http://agfd.sites.acs.org/AGFD%20Awards.pdf |title=Awards |website=agfd.sites.acs.org |access-date=2018-06-03 |archive-date=2020-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721140551/https://agfd.sites.acs.org/AGFD%20Awards.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• Fellow Award: Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division, American Chemical Society (1993)
• International Council on Main Group Chemistry Award for Excellence in Main Group Chemistry Research (1994)
• Kenneth A. Spencer Award, Kansas City Section American Chemical Society (2003){{cite web|url=http://kcacs.sites.acs.org/spencerawardhistory.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230184039/http://kcacs.sites.acs.org/spencerawardhistory.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 30, 2017|title=Spencer Award History|website=Kansas City Local Section}}
• Sterling B. Hendricks Memorial Lectureship Award (Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture) (2012){{cite web|url=http://www.agrodiv.org/2012-sterling-b-hendricks-memorial-lectureship/|title=2012 Sterling B. Hendricks Memorial Lectureship - AGRO Division|website=www.agrodiv.org}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012){{cite web|url=https://www.aaas.org/fellow/block-eric|title=Block, Eric|date=1 August 2016}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Fellow, American Chemical Society (2014){{cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/fellows/list-of-2014-acs-fellows.html#P44_2472|title=2014 ACS Fellows - American Chemical Society|website=American Chemical Society}}
• Ernest Guenther Award for the Chemistry of Natural Products of the American Chemical Society (2016){{cite web|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/awards/national/bytopic/ernest-guenther-award-in-the-chemistry-of-natural-products.html|title=Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products - American Chemical Society|website=American Chemical Society}}
• Christopher S. Foote Lecturer, Chemistry Department, University of California, Los Angeles (2018){{cite web|url=https://www.chemistry.ucla.edu/news/2018-christopher-s-foote-lecture|title=2018 Christopher S. Foote Lecture - UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry|website=www.chemistry.ucla.edu}}

Block has published five books and 258 articles; his books and several of his most cited and recent papers are listed below.

;Books

• {{cite book|last=Block|first=E.|title=Reactions of Organosulfur Compounds|publisher=Academic Press|year=1978|isbn=978-0-12-107050-2}}
• {{cite book|editor=Block, E.|title=Heteroatom Chemistry|publisher=VCH|year=1990|isbn=978-3-527-27858-9}}
• {{cite book|editor=Block, E.|title=Advances in Sulfur Chemistry|publisher=JAI Press|year=1994|isbn=0-89232-868-1}}
• {{cite book|author=Block, E.|title=Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AB89RHV9ucC|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|year=2010|isbn=978-0-85404-190-9}}
• {{cite book|author=Block, E.|title=Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science, Chinese Edition [神奇的葱蒜—传说与科学] |publisher=Chemistry Industry Press|year=2017|isbn=978-7-122-28930-8}}

;Reviews

• {{cite journal | author = Block, E. | year = 1985 |title=The chemistry of garlic and onions| journal = Scientific American | volume = 252 | issue = 3| pages = 114–119 | pmid=3975593| doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0385-114 | bibcode = 1985SciAm.252c.114B }}
• {{cite journal | author = Block, E. | s2cid = 50827982 | year = 1992 | title = The organosulfur chemistry of the genus Allium — implications for organic sulfur chemistry | journal = Angewandte Chemie International Edition | volume = 104 | issue = 9| pages = 1158–1203 |doi=10.1002/anie.199211351}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Block | first1 = E. | last2 = Batista | first2 = V.S. | last3 = Matsunami | first3 = H. | last4 = Zhuang | first4 = H. | last5 = Ahmed | first5 = L.| year = 2017 | title =The role of metals in mammalian olfaction of low molecular weight organosulfur compounds. | journal = Natural Product Reports | volume = 34 | issue = 5| pages = 529–557 | doi=10.1039/c7np00016b | pmid=28471462| pmc = 5542778 }}
• {{cite journal | author = Block, E. | year = 2018 | title = Molecular basis of mammalian odor discrimination: A status report | journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | volume = 66 | issue = 51| pages = 13346–13366 |doi=10.1021/acs.jafc.8b04471| pmid= 30453735| bibcode = 2018JAFC...6613346B | s2cid = 53873781 }}

;Research papers

• {{cite journal | last1 = Lin | first1 = D.Y. | last2 = Zhang | first2 = S.Z. | last3 = Block | first3 = E. | last4 = Katz | first4 = L.C. | year = 2005 | title = Encoding social signals in the mouse main olfactory bulb | journal = Nature | volume = 434 | issue = 7032| pages = 470–477 | doi=10.1038/nature03414 | pmid=15724148| bibcode = 2005Natur.434..470L | s2cid = 162036 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Duan | first1 = X. | last2 = Block | first2 = E. | last3 = Li | first3 = Z. | last4 = Connelly | first4 = T. | last5 = Zhang | first5 = J. | last6 = Huang | first6 = Z. | last7 = Su | first7 = X. | last8 = Pan | first8 = Y. | last9 = Wu | first9 = L. | last10 = Chi | first10 = Q. | last11 = Thomas | first11 = S. | last12 = Zhang | first12 = S. | last13 = Ma | first13 = M. | last14 = Matsunami | first14 = H. | last15 = Chen | first15 = G.-Q. | last16 = Zhang | first16 = H. | title = Crucial role of copper in detection of metal-coordinating odorants | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA | date = 2012 | volume = 109 | issue = 9 | pages = 3492–3497 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1111297109|bibcode = 2012PNAS..109.3492D | pmid=22328155 | pmc=3295281| doi-access = free }}
• {{cite journal |author=Block, E. | title=Implausibility of the vibrational theory of olfaction|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=112|issue=21| pages=E2766–E2774|year=2015|doi=10.1073/pnas.1503054112|pmid=25901328 |pmc=4450420|display-authors=etal|bibcode=2015PNAS..112E2766B| doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Li | first1 = S. | last2 = Ahmed | first2 = L. | last3 = Zhang | first3 = R. | last4 = Pan | first4 = Y. | last5 = Matsunami | first5 = H. | last6 = Burger | first6 = J. L. | last7 = Block | first7 = E. | last8 = Batista | first8 = V. S. | last9 = Zhuang | first9 = H. | s2cid = 7865518 | year = 2016|title = Smelling sulfur: Copper and silver regulate the response of human odorant receptor OR2T11 to low molecular weight thiols| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society |volume = 138 | issue = 40 | pages = 13281–13288 | doi=10.1021/jacs.6b06983 | pmid=27659093| bibcode = 2016JAChS.13813281L }}
• {{cite journal |author=Ahmed, L.|title=Molecular mechanism of activation of human musk receptors OR5AN1 and OR1A1 by (R)-muscone and diverse other musk-smelling compounds|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA |volume=115|issue=17| pages=E3950–E3958|year=2018|doi=10.1073/pnas.1713026115|pmid=29632183|pmc=5924878|bibcode=2018PNAS..115E3950A |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Block | first1 = E. | last2 = Dethier | first2 = B. | last3 = Bechand | first3 = B. | last4 = Cotelesage | first4 = J.J.H. | last5 = George | first5 = G.N. | last6 = Goto | first6 = K. | last7 = Pickering | first7 = I.J. | last8 = Rengifo | first8 = E.M. | last9 = Sheridan | first9 = R. | last10 = Sneeden | first10 = E.Y. | last11 = Vogt | first11 = L. | year = 2018 | title = Ajothiolanes: 3,4-Dimethylthiolane natural products from garlic (Allium sativum) | url = https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1490686| journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | volume = 66 | issue = 39| pages = 10193–10204 |doi=10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03638| pmid=30196701| bibcode = 2018JAFC...6610193B | osti = 1490686 | s2cid = 52178061 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Haag | first1 = F. | last2 = Ahmed | first2 = L. | last3 = Reiss | first3 = K. | last4 = Block | first4 = E. | last5 = Batista | first5 = V. | last6 = Krautwurst | first6 = D. | year = 2020 | title = Copper-mediated thiol potentiation and mutagenesis-guided modeling suggest a highly conserved copper-binding motif in human OR2M3 |journal = Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences | volume = 77 | issue = 11 | pages = 2157–2179 |doi=10.1007/s00018-019-03279-y| pmid=31435697 | pmc = 7256108 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Vihani | first1 = A. | last2 = Hu | first2 = X.S. | last3 = Gundala | first3 = S. | last4 = Koyama | first4 = S. | last5 = Block | first5 = E. | last6 = Matsunami | first6 = H. | year = 2020 | title = Semiochemical responsive olfactory sensory neurons are sexually dimorphic and plastic |journal = eLife | volume = 9 | page = 133840 |doi=10.7554/eLife.54501 | pmid=33231170 | pmc = 7732343 | doi-access = free }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Mengers | first1 = H.G. | last2 = Schier | first2 = C. | last3 = Zimmermann | first3 = M. | last4 = Gruhlke | first4 = M.C.H. | last5 = Block | first5 = E. | last6 = Blank | first6 = L.M. | last7 = Slusarenko | first7 = A.J.| year = 2022 | title = Seeing the smell of garlic: Detection of gas phase volatiles from crushed garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa), ramsons (Allium ursinum) and human garlic breath using SESI-Orbitrap MS |journal = Food Chemistry | volume = 397 | pages = e54501 |doi=10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.133804 | pmid=35932686| s2cid = 251172694 }}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Block | first1 = E.| last2 = Cotelesage | first2 = J.J.H. | last3 = Dikarev | first3 = E. | last4 = Garosi | first4 = B. | last5 = George | first5 = G.N. | last6 = Musah | first6 = R.A. | last7 = Vogt | first7 = L.I. | last8 = Wei | first8 = Z. | last9 = Zhang | first9 = Y. | year = 2024 | title = Re-examination of the claimed isolation of stable noncyclic 1,2-disulfoxides |journal = Organic Letters | volume = 26| issue = 45 | pages = 9619–9624|doi=10.1021/acs.orglett.4c02849 | doi-access = free | pmid = 39230394| pmc = 11574841 }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.albany.edu/chemistry/faculty/eric-block Eric Block's website]

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Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:Queens College, City University of New York alumni

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty

Category:University at Albany, SUNY faculty

Category:21st-century American chemists