Frank Westheimer

Frank Henry Westheimer was born on January 15, 1912, to Henry F. Westheimer (1870–1960) and Carrie C (Burgunder) Westheimer (1887–1972) of Baltimore, Maryland.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932. He went on to Harvard University, where he earned his masters in chemistry in 1933 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1935.{{cite web|author=Center for Oral History| title= Frank H. Westheimer |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/oral-histories/westheimer-frank-h|website= Science History Institute }}

Westheimer came to Harvard hoping to do research with James Bryant Conant. When told that Conant would not take on new students, Westheimer outwaited him and was finally accepted as his last graduate student.{{cite book|first=Leon |last=Gortler|title=Frank H. Westheimer, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Leon Gortler at Harvard University on 4 and 5 January 1979 |date=5 January 1979 |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/sites/default/files/westheimer_fh_0046_suppl.pdf|place=Philadelphia, PA|publisher=Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry }}{{rp|16–17}} Westheimer did some work on semicarbazone at Conant's suggestion.{{rp|17}} Conant also suggested that Westheimer work during the summer with Alsoph Corwin at Johns Hopkins University. By doing porphyrin synthesis with Corwin, Westheimer gained needed laboratory experience.{{rp|21–23}}

In 1933, Conant became president of Harvard in 1933 and ceased doing research. Nonetheless, Conant's interactions with Westheimer had a lasting effect,{{rp|24–25}} impressing Westheimer with the need "to do important things".{{cite journal|last1=Hargittai|first1=István|title=Candid Chemistry|journal=Chemistry International|date=September 2002|volume=24|issue=5|url=https://www.iupac.org/publications/ci/2002/2405/candid_chemistry.html|access-date=6 March 2018}}

{{blockquote|"The notion that Conant essentially was saying, 'Well, that problem is all right, but good God, you can do better,' was very important to me. From then on, I tried to ask myself about problems, whether they were really worth the investment of time."{{rp|24–25}} }}

Westheimer completed his Ph.D. with E.P. Kohler. Although Westheimer described Kohler's organic chemistry class as "marvelous",{{rp|26}} Kohler gave Westheimer little direction or feedback about his research, which was largely self-directed. Another of Kohler's students, Max Tishler, expanded upon some of Westheimer's research, leading to a co-publication on the derivation of a furanol.{{rp|17–18}}{{cite journal|last1=Kohler|first1=E. P.|last2=Westheimer|first2=F. H.|last3=Tishler|first3=M.|title=Hydroxy Furans. I. Beta Hydroxy Triphenylfuran|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=February 1936|volume=58|issue=2|pages=264–267 |doi=10.1021/ja01293a020|bibcode=1936JAChS..58..264K }}

In 1935 and 1936, as a National Research Council Fellow, Westheimer worked with physical chemist Louis P. Hammett at Columbia University. Hammett was a founder of the field of physical organic chemistry.{{cite news|title=Chandler Medal to Frank Westheimer|url=http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbiarecord?a=d&d=cr19801107-01.2.9|access-date=6 March 2018|work=University Record|publisher=Columbia University|issue=10|volume=6|date=7 November 1980}}

Westheimer taught at the University of Chicago from 1936 to 1954, and at Harvard University from 1953 to 1983.

He served as chairman of the chemistry department at Harvard from 1959 to 1962.

He became the Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry at Harvard in 1960. He retired from teaching to become Professor Emeritus in 1983, and retired from research in 1988.

Westheimer's first academic appointment was an independent Research Associateship at the University of Chicago, from 1936 to 1937. He became an instructor in 1937 and a Professor in 1948. As a lecturer in chemistry he taught the university's first course in physical organic chemistry.{{rp|43}}

During Westheimer's second year at Chicago, John Gamble Kirkwood taught there. Westheimer worked with Kirkwood on problems in organic chemistry involving electrostatics. Westheimer related electrostatics to their effects on the properties of organic compounds.{{rp|43–47}} Kirkwood and Westheimer published four classical papers developing fundamental ideas in enzymology about the theory of the electrostatic influence of substituents on the dissociation constants of organic acids. They developed a Bjerrum electrostatic analysis of carboxylic acids.

Their Kirkwood-Westheimer model for an ellipsoid cavity reconciles the work of Niels Bjerrum on dibasic acids with that of Arnold Eucken on dipole substituted acids, showing that they could coexist in the same physical world.{{rp|43–47}}{{cite book|last1=Jensen|first1=Frank|title=Introduction to computational chemistry|date=2008|publisher=Wiley|location=Chichester|isbn=978-0-470-01186-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ydXxWigCDXYC&pg=PT562|access-date=6 March 2018}} Elaborations and fuller testing of their ideas have required forty years and the development of computers.{{rp|43–47}}

During World War II, from 1943 to 1945, Westheimer worked for the National Defense Research Committee.{{rp|69–71}} He was a supervisor at the Explosives Research Laboratory in Bruceton, Pennsylvania.{{cite news|last1=Saxe|first1=Robert L.|title=Chemistry Dept. Shapes Venture in Biochemistry Bloch, Westheimer Named Professors|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1954/4/27/chemistry-dept-shapes-venture-in-biochemistry/|access-date=6 March 2018|work=The Harvard Crimson|date=April 27, 1954}} He did research on nitric acid, discovering a new acidity function for nitration reactions. He hesitated to discuss his work on the triphenyl carbinol series with physical chemists because of the secrecy requirements of the project. Other researchers such as Christopher Ingold were first to publish in the area.{{rp|69–71}}

Westheimer was also influenced by the development of statistical mechanics by physicists Joseph Edward Mayer and Maria Goeppert-Mayer, who moved to the University of Chicago in 1945. Westheimer applied the principles of statistical mechanics to the structure of organic molecules, to better understand the ways in which molecules are assembled from atoms. Westheimer first consulted Mayer about applying techniques from statistical mechanics to the racemization of optically active biphenyls. All of his calculations were worked out by hand.{{rp|65, 66–68}} The work became a model for studies of other elements and is considered foundational. The field of molecular mechanics, as it is now known, has wide applications.{{cite journal|last1=Hursthouse|first1=M. B.|last2=Moss|first2=G. P.|last3=Sales|first3=K. D.|title= Chapter 3. Theoretical chemistry: Applications of molecular mechanics calculations|journal=Annu. Rep. Prog. Chem., Sect. B: Org. Chem.|date=1978|volume=75|doi=10.1039/OC9787500023|pages=23–35}}{{cite book|last1=Carroll|first1=Felix A.|title=Perspectives on structure and mechanism in organic chemistry|date=2010|publisher=John Wiley|location=Hoboken, N.J.|isbn=978-0470276105|page=135|edition= 2nd|url=https://archive.org/stream/CarrollF.A.PerspectivesOnStructureAndMechanismInOrganicChemistry2ndEd.Wiley2010/Carroll%2C%20F.%20A.%20Perspectives%20on%20Structure%20and%20Mechanism%20in%20Organic%20Chemistry%20%282nd%20ed.%2C%20Wiley%2C%202010%29_djvu.txt|access-date=8 March 2018}}

In 1943, Westheimer began publishing on the mechanisms of chromic acid oxidations, publishing a "masterly

review" of the area in 1949.

In 1950, University of Chicago biochemist Birgit Vennesland approached Westheimer about a project she and her student Harvey Fisher were doing, involving isotopes in enzyme reactions. Vennesland had developed a project involving the fate of hydrogen atoms in alcohol dehydrogenase. Vennesland and Fisher's results were puzzling in that a specific hydrogen in the pair at C1 in ethanol appeared to be uniquely reactive in the presence of the enzyme. Westheimer joined the project and helped develop an explanation based on the idea of enantiotopicity to explain how the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase removed hydrogen from the alcohol molecule, enabling the body to metabolize alcohol.

The researchers published two classic papers in 1953, "the first demonstration of the enzymatic discrimination between the two enantiotopic hydrogen atoms on the methylene carbon atom of ethanol."{{cite journal|last1=Fisher|first1=H. F.|last2=Conn|first2=E. E.|last3=Vennesland|first3=B.|last4=Westheimer|first4=F. H.|title=The Enzymatic Transfer of Hydrogen. I. The Reaction Catalyzed by Alcohol Dehydrogenase|journal=J. Biol. Chem.|date=1953|volume=202|issue=2|pages=687–697|doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)66181-2|pmid=13061492|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Loewus|first1= F. A.|last2=Ofner|first2= P. |last3=Fisher|first3=H.F.|last4=Westheimer|first4=F. H.|last5=Vennesland|first5=B.|title=The Enzymatic Transfer of Hydrogen. II. The Reaction Catalyzed by Lactic Dehydrogenase|journal=J. Biol. Chem.|date=1953|volume= 202|issue=2 |pages=699–704|doi= 10.1016/S0021-9258(18)66182-4|pmid= 13061493|doi-access= free}}

The phenomenon they reported was not named enantiospecificity until much later. Westheimer designed additional experiments that proved their initial conjecture and established the isotope-based chirality of enzymes. This work was essential to understanding topicity, the enantiotopic and diastereotopic relationships between groups (or atoms) within molecules.{{cite journal|last1=Ault|first1=Addison|title=Frank Westheimer's Early Demonstration of Enzymatic Specificity|journal=Journal of Chemical Education|date=September 2008|volume=85|issue=9|pages=1246|doi=10.1021/ed085p1246|bibcode=2008JChEd..85.1246A}} In 2006, their 1953 paper (part I) received a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award from the Division of the History of Chemistry of the American Chemical Society.{{cite web|title=Citations for Chemical Breakthrough Awards|url=http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/awards/CCB-ALL_Awardees-NameSort.php|website=Division of the History of Chemistry|access-date=9 March 2018}}

In 1953, soon after completing the work on alcohol dehydrogenase, Westheimer moved to Harvard University. He continued his interest in reaction mechanisms, isotopes and oxidation. In 1955, Westheimer published the first of many articles on the chemistry of phosphate esters and phosphorus derivatives.

He proposed that ATP transfers phosphate through a reactive monomeric metaphosphate species. While this did not turn out to be the literal case, many enzymic reactions do proceed through transition states that have this as a significant component.{{cite journal|last1=Lassila|first1=Jonathan K.|last2=Zalatan|first2=Jesse G.|last3=Herschlag|first3=Daniel|title=Biological Phosphoryl-Transfer Reactions: Understanding Mechanism and Catalysis|journal=Annual Review of Biochemistry|date=7 July 2011|volume=80|issue=1|pages=669–702|doi=10.1146/annurev-biochem-060409-092741|pmid=21513457|pmc=3418923}}

In a 1961 article, Westheimer applied ideas from statistical mechanics to the effects of isotopic substitution on the reactivity of organic molecules. His work on the magnitude of kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) is still the basis of understanding in the field.{{cite book|last1=Kohen|first1=Amnon |last2=Limbach |first2=Hans-Heinrich |title=Isotope effects in chemistry and biology|date=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=Boca Raton, Fla.|isbn=9780824724498|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EiIqrRBBQgC&pg=PA1074|access-date=8 March 2018}}{{rp|418}}{{cite journal|last1=Glad|first1=Sanne Schrøder|last2=Jensen|first2=Frank|title=Kinetic Isotope Effects and Transition State Geometries. A Theoretical Investigation of E2 Model Systems|journal=The Journal of Organic Chemistry|date=January 1997|volume=62|issue=2|pages=253–260|doi=10.1021/jo9618379|pmid=11671397}}{{cite journal|last1=Agmon|first1=Noam|title=Extensions of the Melander-Westheimer Postulate: Isotope Effects in Reactions with Equilibrium Values Far from Unity|journal=Israel Journal of Chemistry|date=1985|volume=26|issue=4|pages=375–377|doi=10.1002/ijch.198500122}}

Transition state structure's dependence on the kinetic isotope effect is known as the Westheimer Effect.{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=J. M. T.|title=Visions of the future: chemistry and life science|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0521805391|page=[https://archive.org/details/visionsoffuture00jmtt_0/page/27 27]|url=https://archive.org/details/visionsoffuture00jmtt_0|url-access=registration|access-date=8 March 2018}}

The standard nontunnelling approach to KIEs is developed from Westheimer and Lars Melander.{{cite book|last1=Melander|first1=Lars|title=Isotope Effects on Reaction Rates|date=1960|publisher=Ronald Press|location=New York}}{{rp|550, 561}} The Melander-Westheimer postulate has successfully predicted the ways in which KIEs and transition state (TS) structures vary.{{cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Yong|last2=Kumar|first2=Devesh|last3=Yang|first3=Chuanlu|last4=Han|first4=Keli|last5=Shaik|first5=Sason|title=Theoretical Study of -Demethylation of Substituted -Dimethylanilines by Cytochrome P450: The Mechanistic Significance of Kinetic Isotope Effect Profiles|journal=The Journal of Physical Chemistry B|date=July 2007|volume=111|issue=26|pages=7700–7710|doi=10.1021/jp072347v|pmid=17559261}}

Westheimer introduced the idea of photoaffinity labeling of the active site of proteins.{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Ewan|last2=Collins|first2=Ian|title=Photoaffinity labeling in target- and binding-site identification|journal=Future Medicinal Chemistry|date=February 2015|volume=7|issue=2|pages=159–183|doi=10.4155/fmc.14.152|pmid=25686004|pmc=4413435}} The identification of the "active sites" of an enzyme is difficult in cases where proteins have hydrocarbon-rich sites.

In 1962, Westheimer and others demonstrated the synthesis of p-nitrophenyl diazoacetate and the subsequent acylation of chymotrypsin to form diazoacetylchymotrypsin, which was then photolyzed. The introduction of an aliphatic diazo group into a bifunctional reagent enabled it to react with the enzyme. The photolabel generated a reactive carbenoid species capable of inserting into hydrocarbon C-H bonds.{{cite journal|last1=Singh|first1=A|last2=Thornton|first2=ER |last3=Westheimer|first3=FH|title=The photolysis of diazoacetylchymotrypsin.|journal=The Journal of Biological Chemistry|date=September 1962|volume=237|issue=9|pages=3006–8|doi=10.1016/S0021-9258(18)60265-0|pmid=13913310|url=http://www.jbc.org/content/237/9/PC3006.long|access-date=7 March 2018|doi-access=free}}

Westheimer also approached the reactions of phosphate transfer through mechanisms that involve five-coordinate intermediates. In 1968, Westheimer examined pseudorotation in phosphate ester chemistry and predicted the occurrence of pseudo-rotation of oxyphosphoranes.{{cite journal|last1=Westheimer|first1=F.H..|title=Pseudo-rotation in the hydrolysis of phosphate esters|journal=Accounts of Chemical Research|date=January 1968|volume=1|issue=3|pages=70–78|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281136456|access-date=7 March 2018|doi=10.1021/ar50003a002|citeseerx=10.1.1.557.9702}}

He showed the significance of this route and the importance of stereochemical rearrangements of the intermediates.

Westheimer developed a set of guidelines, based on experimental observations, also known as Westheimer's rules. They have been widely used for describing and predicting the products and stereochemistry of substitution reactions involving phosphorus.{{cite book|last1=Bethell|first1=D.|title=Advances in physical organic chemistry|date=1989|publisher=Academic Press|location=London|isbn=9780080581644|volume=25|pages=122–139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=StmXb3n-TKwC&pg=PA122|access-date=8 March 2018}}

{{cite book|last1=Erdmann|first1=Volker A.|last2=Markiewicz|first2=Wojciech T.|last3=Barciszewski|first3=Jan|title=Chemical Biology of Nucleic Acids Fundamentals and Clinical Applications.|date=2014|publisher=Springer Verlag|location=Berlin|isbn=9783642544514|page=43|edition= Aufl. 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2m4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|access-date=8 March 2018}}

Westheimer's 1987 paper in Science, "Why nature chose phosphates", discusses the importance of phosphates as signaling and building blocks for living organisms. Phosphates possess a value of pK_a that allows them to be doubly ionized at physiological pH. The singly ionized form in the phosphodiester linkages of nucleic acids resists being hydrolyzed by water, but is not so stable that it won't undergo enzymatic hydrolysis.{{cite web|title=Why nature chose phosphates|url=http://wavefunction.fieldofscience.com/2009/02/why-nature-chose-phosphates.html|website=The Curious Waveform|date=February 23, 2009|access-date=9 March 2018}}

This work continues to challenge and inspire researchers studying biological chemistry and reactions in RNA, DNA, and ribozymes.{{cite journal|last1=Westheimer|first1=FH|title=Why nature chose phosphates|journal=Science|date=6 March 1987|volume=235|issue=4793|pages=1173–8|pmid=2434996|doi=10.1126/science.2434996|bibcode=1987Sci...235.1173W}}{{cite journal|last1=Kamerlin|first1=Shina C. L.|last2=Sharma|first2=Pankaz K.|last3=Prasad|first3=Ram B.|last4=Warshel|first4=Arieh|title=Why nature really chose phosphate|journal=Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics|date=2013|volume=46|issue=1|pages=1–132|pmid=23318152|doi=10.1017/S0033583512000157|pmc=7032660|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-202318}}{{cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=T.|title=Why nature chose phosphate to modify proteins|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=13 August 2012|volume=367|issue=1602|pages=2513–2516|doi=10.1098/rstb.2012.0013|pmid=22889903|pmc=3415839}}{{cite journal|last1=Reich|first1=Hans J.|last2=Hondal|first2=Robert J.|title=Why Nature Chose Selenium|journal=ACS Chemical Biology|date=21 March 2016|volume=11|issue=4|pages=821–841|doi=10.1021/acschembio.6b00031|pmid=26949981}}

Westheimer became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1954,{{cite web|title=Frank H. Westheimer|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/49220.html|website=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=9 March 2018}} a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1976,{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Georges+Balandier&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}} and a foreign member of the Royal Society of London in 1983.{{cite web|title=Jews elected to foreign membership in the British Royal Society, 1901-Present|url=http://www.jinfo.org/Royal_Society_1901-Present.html|website=JInfo|access-date=9 March 2018}}Benner, Steven; Corey, Elias J. (2018). "Frank Henry Westheimer. 15 January 1912—14 April 2007". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2018.0009

He chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee for the Survey of Chemistry from 1964 to 1965. Chemistry: Opportunities and Needs, also known as the "Westheimer Report", encouraged the federal government to increase spending on fundamental research in chemistry, to achieve parity with other physical sciences.{{cite journal|last1=Laitinen|first1=Herbert A.|title=Editorial. The Westheimer Report: Where is Analytical Chemistry?|journal=Analytical Chemistry|date=March 1966|volume=38|issue=3|pages=369|doi=10.1021/ac60235a600}}{{cite news|title=Westheimer Report Seeks Increase In Spending for Chemical Research|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1965/12/4/westheimer-report-seeks-increase-in-spending/|access-date=9 March 2018|work=The Harvard Crimson|date=December 4, 1965}}

It identified biochemistry as a promising and overlooked area for medical and pharmaceutical research.

The report's recommendations were implemented, and it is still considered to be "comprehensive, definitive, and forward-looking".

Westheimer was a member of President Lyndon Johnson's science advisory committee from 1967 to 1970.{{cite news|last1=Pearce|first1=Jeremy|title=Frank Westheimer, 95, Who Developed Model Valuable in Biochemistry, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/obituaries/21westheimer.html|access-date=6 March 2018|work=The New York Times|date=April 21, 2007}}

Westheimer served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences for two terms, from 1973 to 1975 and 1976-1978, as well as being a Councillor of the American Philosophical Society (1981-1984), and Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985-1990).

As well as emphasizing the need for fundamental research, Westheimer was concerned about other political issues. He argued against wars in Vietnam and Iraq. He was aware of environmental issues, supporting measures to decrease pollution, combat global warming, increase energy conservation, and develop alternative energy sources. He advocated that science needed to be taught in new ways, to better educate nonscientists about scientific issues.

Among Westheimer's many honors are the U.S. National Academy Award in Chemical Sciences in 1980,{{cite web|title=NAS Award in Chemical Sciences|url=http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/chemical-sciences.html|website=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=9 March 2018}} the Robert A. Welch Foundation Award in 1982,{{cite web|title=Welch Award in ChemistryPast Award Recipients|url=http://www.welch1.org/awards/welch-award-in-chemistry/past-recipients|website=The Welch Foundation|access-date=9 March 2018}} the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1981,{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}} the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1986,{{cite news|title=Frank H. Westheimer among winners of the National Medal of Science|url=https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb97283050/_2.pdf|access-date=9 March 2018|work=UCSanDiego|date=March 12, 1986}} the Priestley Medal in 1988;{{cite journal|title=ACS 1988 National Award Winners|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|volume=65|issue=35|year=1987|pages=48|issn=0009-2347|doi=10.1021/cen-v065n035.p048|doi-access=free}} the Repligen Award for the Chemistry of Biological Processes in 1992;{{cite journal|last1=Zerner|first1=Burt|title=Frank Henry Westheimer: The celebration of a lifetime in chemistry|journal=Bioorganic Chemistry|date=1992|volume=20|issue=4|pages=269–284|doi=10.1016/0045-2068(92)90038-5|doi-access=free}} and the Nakanishi Prize in 1997.{{cite web|title=Nakanishi Prize|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/awards/national/bytopic/nakanishi-prize.html|publisher=American Chemical Society|accessdate=9 March 2018}}

{{blockquote|"Over a span of four decades, Westheimer repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take up a fundamental scientific problem — one that appeared either insoluble or very difficult — and to solve it in an elegant and completely definitive way... He enjoyed going on to new challenges more than exploiting the large new areas that he had opened up." Elias James Corey, 2007}}

The Westheimer medal was established in his honor in 2002. The medal is awarded by Harvard University "for distinguished research into the field of chemistry", particularly in the areas of organic and biological chemistry.{{cite news|last1=Cromie|first1=William J.|title=New chemistry medal is established: Named for professor emeritus Frank Westheimer|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2002/10/new-chemistry-medal-is-established/|access-date=6 March 2018|work=The Harvard Gazette|date=October 3, 2002}}

Frank H. Westheimer was married in 1937 to Jeanne E. Friedman. They had two children, Ellen Westheimer and Ruth Susan Westheimer.

{{reflist}}

{{wikiquote}}

• McLafferty, Fred W.; Abruña, Héctor D. [http://hdl.handle.net/1813/3525 A Conversation with Fred W. McLafferty 2006], 90 minute video, for Cornell University.
• {{cite web|author=Center for Oral History| title= Frank H. Westheimer |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/oral-histories/westheimer-frank-h|website= Science History Institute }}
• {{cite book|first=Leon |last=Gortler|title=Frank H. Westheimer, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Leon Gortler at Harvard University on 4 and 5 January 1979 |date=5 January 1979 |url=https://oh.sciencehistory.org/sites/default/files/westheimer_fh_0046_suppl.pdf|place=Philadelphia, PA|publisher=Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry }}
• {{cite news|last1=Cromie|first1=William J.|title=New chemistry medal is established: Named for professor emeritus Frank Westheimer|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2002/10/new-chemistry-medal-is-established/|access-date=6 March 2018|work=The Harvard Gazette|date=October 3, 2002}}

• {{cite news|last1=Corey|first1=E. J.|title=Frank H. Westheimer, major figure in 20th century chemistry, dies at 95|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/frank-h-westheimer-major-figure-in-20th-century-chemistry-dies-at-95/|access-date=6 March 2018|work=Harvard Gazette|date=April 19, 2007}}
• {{cite news|last1=Pearce|first1=Jeremy|title=Frank Westheimer, 95, Who Developed Model Valuable in Biochemistry, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/obituaries/21westheimer.html|work=The New York Times|date=April 21, 2007}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Linda|title=Frank Westheimer dies at 95|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|date=23 April 2007|volume=85|issue=17|pages=10|doi=10.1021/cen-v085n017.p010}}

{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}}

{{Repligen Corporation Award in Chemistry of Biological Processes}}

{{FRS 1983}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westheimer, Frank}}

Category:1912 births

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Category:20th-century American chemists

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Category:National Medal of Science laureates

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Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

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