Jack D. Dunitz

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Jack D. Dunitz

| native_name =

| birth_name = Jack David Dunitz

| native_name_lang =

| image = ETH-BIB-Dunitz, Jack D. (1923-2021)-Portr 04533.tif

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Jack Dunitz, ca. 1960

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1923|3|29}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U14322 |title=DUNITZ, Prof. Jack David |work=Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press }}{{subscription required}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland, UK

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2021|9|12|1923|3|29}}

| death_place =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| other_names =

| residence =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| fields =

| workplaces = ETH Zurich
University of Glasgow
University of Oxford
California Institute of Technology
US National Institute of Health
Royal Institution

| alma_mater = University of Glasgow

| thesis_title = The crystal and molecular structure of acetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate and of diacetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate

| thesis_url = http://www.theses.com

| thesis_year = 1946 submitted, accepted 1947

| doctoral_advisor = J. Monteath Robertson

| academic_advisors = Dorothy Hodgkin
Linus Pauling
Lawrence Bragg

| doctoral_students = Hans-Beat Bürgi

| notable_students = Odile Eisenstein (postdoc)
Keith Hodgson (postdoc)

| known_for = Bürgi–Dunitz angle

| author_abbrev_bot =

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards = {{Nowrap|Fellow of the Royal Society (1974)
Gregori Aminoff Prize (1990)}}

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website = {{URL|www.chab.ethz.ch/en/the-department/people/emeriti/emeriti-homepages/jack-dunitz.html}}

| footnotes =

| spouse = Barbara Steuer

| children =

}}

Jack David Dunitz FRS (29 March 1923 – 12 September 2021) was a British chemist and widely known chemical crystallographer. He was Professor of Chemical Crystallography at the ETH Zurich from 1957 until his official retirement in 1990. He held Visiting Professorships in the United States, Israel, Japan, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom.

In 1953 he married Barbara Steuer and had two daughters Marguerite (1955) and Julia Gabrielle (1957).

Education

Born in Glasgow, Dunitz was educated at Hillhead High School and Hutchesons' Grammar School. He went on to study at the University of Glasgow where he gained his Bachelor of Science degree and Doctor of Philosophy in 1947.{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Jack|last=Dunitz |title=The crystal and molecular structure of acetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate and of diacetylene dicarboxylic acid dihydrate |publisher=University of Glagow |year=2012 |url=http://www.theses.com|author-link=Jack D. Dunitz}}{{subscription required}}

He held research fellowships at Oxford University (1946–1948, 1951–1953), the California Institute of Technology (1948–1951, 1953–1954), the US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD (1954–1955), and the Royal Institution, London (1956–1957).{{cite web|title=Dunitz web page at ETH Zurich|url=http://www.loc.ethz.ch/people/emerit/dunitz|access-date=6 February 2014}}

Research

Dunitz's main research direction involved the use of crystal structure analysis as tool for studying chemical problems. In his early pre-ETH period, his work included structure studies of cyclobutane,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1063/1.1700271| bibcode = 1952JChPh..20.1703D| title = The Molecular Structure of Cyclobutane| journal = The Journal of Chemical Physics| volume = 20| issue = 11| pages = 1703| year = 1952| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Schomaker | first2 = V. | url = http://authors.library.caltech.edu/71169/1/1.1700271.pdf}} of ferrocene with the first description of its electronic structure in terms of orbital symmetry relationships.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/171121a0| bibcode = 1953Natur.171..121D| title = Bis-cyclopentadienyl Iron: A Molecular Sandwich| journal = Nature| volume = 171| issue = 4342| pages = 121| year = 1953| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Orgel | first2 = L. E.| s2cid = 4263761}}J. D. Dunitz, "Forty Years of Ferrocene", in: M. V. Kisak¸rek, ed., Organic Chemistry: Its Language and its State of the Art, Basel: Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, 1993, pp. 9–24 With Leslie Orgel he also explained distortions of certain spinel minerals from cubic symmetry in terms of the Jahn-Teller effect.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0022-3697(57)90043-4| title = Electronic properties of transition-metal oxides—I| journal = Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids| volume = 3| pages = 20–29| year = 1957| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Orgel | first2 = L. E. | issue = 1–2 | bibcode = 1957JPCS....3...20D}} In his later research, at the ETH Zurich and after, Dunitz worked in several areas of structural chemistry, including the conformation and reactivity of medium-ring cycloalkanes and lactams,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1351/pac197125030495| title = Conformation of medium rings| journal = Pure and Applied Chemistry| volume = 25| issue = 3| year = 1971| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| pages = 495–508| doi-access = free}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1107/S0567740875002427| title = Amide group deformation in medium-ring lactams| journal = Acta Crystallographica Section B| volume = 31| pages = 251–263| year = 1975| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Winkler | first2 = F. K.| issue = 1| bibcode = 1975AcCrB..31..251D}} ion-specificity of natural and synthetic ionophores,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0022-2836(67)90370-1| pmid = 5598211| title = Structure of the K+ complex with nonactin, a macrotetrolide antibiotic possessing highly specific K+ transport properties| journal = Journal of Molecular Biology| volume = 30| issue = 3| pages = 559–63| year = 1967| last1 = Kilbourn | first1 = B. T. | last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D. | last3 = Pioda | first3 = L. A. R. | last4 = Simon | first4 = W.}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/hlca.19710540419| pmid = 5095215| title = Crystal Structure of the Antibiotic Monensin Similarities and Differences between Free Acid and Metal Complex| journal = Helvetica Chimica Acta| volume = 54| issue = 4| pages = 1103–8| year = 1971| last1 = Lutz | first1 = W. K.| last2 = Winkler | first2 = F. K.| last3 = Dunitz | first3 = J. D.}}{{Cite journal | last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Hawley | first2 = D. M. | last3 = Miklos | first3 = D. | last4 = White | first4 = D. N. J. | last5 = Berlin | first5 = Y. | last6 = Marusić | first6 = R. | last7 = Prelog | first7 = V. | doi = 10.1002/hlca.19710540624 | title = Structure of boromycin | journal = Helvetica Chimica Acta | volume = 54 | issue = 6 | pages = 1709–1713 | year = 1971 | pmid = 5131791 }} chemical reaction paths (see Bürgi-Dunitz angle),{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/ja00796a058| title = Geometrical reaction coordinates. II. Nucleophilic addition to a carbonyl group| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society| volume = 95| issue = 15| pages = 5065| year = 1973| last1 = Burgi | first1 = H. B.| last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D.| last3 = Shefter | first3 = E. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/ja00401a011| title = Chemical reaction paths. 7. Pathways for SN2 and SN3 substitution at tin(IV)| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society| volume = 103| issue = 11| pages = 2971| year = 1981| last1 = Britton | first1 = D. | last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D. }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Buergi | first1 = H. B. | last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D. | doi = 10.1021/ar00089a002 | title = From crystal statics to chemical dynamics | journal = Accounts of Chemical Research | volume = 16 | issue = 5 | pages = 153 | year = 1983 }} aspects of hydrogen bonding,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/jr9530003740| title = 764. The structure of the hydrogen maleate anion : A symmetric hydrogen bond?| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society (Resumed)| pages = 3740| year = 1953| last1 = Cardwell | first1 = H. M. E.| last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D.| last3 = Orgel | first3 = L. E.}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/anie.198711751| title = Observation of an Eclipsed Csp3-CH3 Bond in a Tricyclic Orthoamide; Experimental and Theoretical Evidence for CH⃛O Hydrogen Bonds| journal = Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English| volume = 26| issue = 11| pages = 1175| year = 1987| last1 = Seiler | first1 = P. | last2 = Weisman | first2 = G. R. | last3 = Glendening | first3 = E. D. | last4 = Weinhold | first4 = F. | last5 = Johnson | first5 = V. B. | last6 = Dunitz | first6 = J. D. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/chem.19970030115| title = Organic Fluorine Hardly Ever Accepts Hydrogen Bonds| journal = Chemistry: A European Journal| volume = 3| pages = 89–98| year = 1997| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Taylor | first2 = R. }} molecular motions in solids,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1107/S0567740882008358| title = Temperature dependence of thermal motion in crystalline naphthalene| journal = Acta Crystallographica Section B| volume = 38| issue = 8| pages = 2218| year = 1982| last1 = Brock | first1 = C. P.| last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D.| doi-access = | bibcode = 1982AcCrB..38.2218B}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1080/00268978700102321| bibcode = 1987MolPh..62..451M| title = Rotation barriers in crystals from atomic displacement parameters| journal = Molecular Physics| volume = 62| issue = 2| pages = 451| year = 1987| last1 = Maverick | first1 = E. | last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/j100315a002| title = Interpretation of atomic displacement parameters from diffraction studies of crystals| journal = The Journal of Physical Chemistry| volume = 92| issue = 4| pages = 856| year = 1988| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Schomaker | first2 = V. | last3 = Trueblood | first3 = K. N. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/anie.198808801| title = Atomic Motions in Molecular Crystals from Diffraction Measurements| journal = Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English| volume = 27| issue = 7| pages = 880| year = 1988| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Maverick | first2 = E. F. | last3 = Trueblood | first3 = K. N. }} phase transformations and solid-state chemical reactions,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1107/S0108768194012036| title = Phase changes and chemical reactions in molecular crystals| journal = Acta Crystallographica Section B| volume = 51| issue = 4| pages = 619–631| year = 1995| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| bibcode = 1995AcCrB..51..619D}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/hlca.201200339| title = Dl-Ribose Crystal Structures: The Glass Crystal Transformation| journal = Helvetica Chimica Acta| volume = 95| issue = 10| pages = 1687| year = 2012| last1 = Zandomeneghi | first1 = G. | last2 = Schweizer | first2 = W. B. | last3 = Gilmour | first3 = R. | last4 = Meier | first4 = B. H. | last5 = Dunitz | first5 = J. D. }} electron density distributions in crystals,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/hlca.19830660113| title = X-Ray Study of the Deformation Density in Tetrafluoroterephthalodinitrile: Weak Bonding Density in the C, F-Bond| journal = Helvetica Chimica Acta| volume = 66| pages = 123–133| year = 1983| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Schweizer | first2 = W. B. | last3 = Seiler | first3 = P. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/hlca.19860690518| title = Are ionic solids really built of ions? New evidence from x-ray diffraction| journal = Helvetica Chimica Acta| volume = 69| issue = 5| pages = 1107| year = 1986| last1 = Seiler | first1 = P. | last2 = Dunitz | first2 = J. D. }} polymorphism,{{Cite journal | last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Bernstein | first2 = J. | doi = 10.1021/ar00052a005 | title = Disappearing Polymorphs | journal = Accounts of Chemical Research | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | pages = 193 | year = 1995 }} and intermolecular interactions in condensed phases.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/b822963p| pmid = 19690742| title = How molecules stick together in organic crystals: Weak intermolecular interactions| journal = Chemical Society Reviews| volume = 38| issue = 9| pages = 2622–33| year = 2009| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Gavezzotti | first2 = A. }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/cg401646t| title = 'Coulombic Compression', a Pervasive Force in Ionic Solids. A Study of Anion Stacking in Croconate Salts| journal = Crystal Growth & Design| volume = 14| pages = 357–366| year = 2014| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Gavezzotti | first2 = A.| last3 = Rizzato | first3 = S.}} A few other publications on mathematical or theoretical topics may be of interest.{{cite journal|last=Dunitz|first=J. D.|author2=Waser, J.|title=The Planarity of the Equilateral Isogonal Pentagon|journal=Elemente der Mathematik|year=1972|volume=27|pages=25–32}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1021/ja00771a018| title = Geometric constraints in six- and eight-membered rings| journal = Journal of the American Chemical Society| volume = 94| issue = 16| pages = 5645| year = 1972| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Waser | first2 = J.}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1039/c39720000568| title = Non-empirical SCF calculations on hydrogen-like molecules: The effect of nuclear charge on binding energy and bond length| journal = Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications| issue = 9| pages = 568| year = 1972| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D.| last2 = Ha | first2 = T. K.}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1038/384320a0| bibcode = 1996Natur.384..320S| title = Even–odd carbon atom disparity| journal = Nature| volume = 384| issue = 6607| pages = 320| year = 1996| last1 = Sarma | first1 = J. A. R. P. | last2 = Nangia | first2 = A. | last3 = Desiraju | first3 = G. R. | last4 = Zass | first4 = E. | last5 = Dunitz | first5 = J. D. | s2cid = 44969482| doi-access = free }}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/anie.200800063| title = Is Deuterium Always Smaller than Protium?| journal = Angewandte Chemie International Edition| volume = 47| issue = 22| pages = 4208–10| year = 2008| last1 = Dunitz | first1 = J. D. | last2 = Ibberson | first2 = R. M. | pmid=18412199}} Dunitz was also known for Dunitz's Rule: "Almost every scientific publication can be improved by cutting out the first sentence".

Awards and honours

Dunitz was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/jack-dunitz-11363/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815111356/https://royalsociety.org/people/jack-dunitz-11363/ |title=Jack Dunitz |publisher=Royal Society |archive-date=15 August 2020}} Dunitz was a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina since 1979,{{cite web|url=https://www.leopoldina.org/mitgliederverzeichnis/mitglieder/member/Member/show/jack-david-dunitz/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105225851/https://www.leopoldina.org/mitgliederverzeichnis/mitglieder/member/Member/show/jack-david-dunitz/ |title=Prof. Dr. Jack David Dunitz |language=de |publisher=German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina |archive-date=5 November 2020}} the Academia Europaea since 1989{{cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Dunitz_Jack |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328131749/https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Dunitz_Jack |title=Jack Dunitz |publisher=Academia Europaea |archive-date=28 March 2019}} and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was also a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1979{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/4066 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811162637/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/4066 |title=J.D. Dunitz |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-date=11 August 2020}} and an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences since 1988{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/8891.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324140742/http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/8891.html |title=Jack D. Dunitz |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |archive-date=24 March 2019}} and the American Philosophical Society since 1997.{{cite web|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Dunitz&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105230718/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Dunitz&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |title=Dr. Jack David Dunitz |publisher=American Philosophical Society |archive-date=5 November 2020}} He was an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1997.{{cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/jack-david-dunitz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105225407/https://www.amacad.org/person/jack-david-dunitz |title=Jack David Dunitz |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-date=5 November 2020}} He was an Honorary Member of the Swiss Society of Crystallography,{{cite web|title=SSCR webpage of the Swiss Society for Crystallography|url=http://www.sgk-sscr.ch/?lang=de|access-date=14 March 2014}} the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Swiss Chemical Society, and the British Crystallographic Association.{{cite web|title=British Crystallographic Association|url=http://crystallography.org.uk/|access-date=14 March 2014}}

Dunitz was the recipient of the Paracelsus Prize{{cite web|title=Paracelsus Prize|url=https://scg.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=89&Itemid=587&lang=en|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807154854/https://scg.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=89&Itemid=587&lang=en|url-status=dead}} of the Swiss Chemical Society{{cite web|title=Swiss Chemical Society Homepage|url=https://scg.ch/index.php?lang=en|access-date=14 March 2014}} (1986), the Gregori Aminoff Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1990), the M.J. Buerger Award of the American Crystallographic Association{{cite web|title=American Crystallographic Association Homepage|url=http://www.amercrystalassn.org/|access-date=14 March 2014}} (1991). He was the first recipient of the Havinga Medal{{cite web|title=Laureates Havinga Foundation|url=http://www.havingafoundation.org/awarded-medals/|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628073424/http://www.havingafoundation.org/awarded-medals/|url-status=dead}} in 1980, and also received the Bijvoet Medal at the University of Utrecht Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research in 1989.{{cite web|url=http://bijvoet-center.eu/bijvoet-medal/|title=Bijvoet Medal|publisher=Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912191415/http://bijvoet-center.eu/bijvoet-medal/|archive-date=12 September 2017|url-status=dead}}

Dunitz held honorary doctorates from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa) (1990), the Weizmann Institute of Science (1992) and the University of Glasgow (1999).

Publications

Dunitz wrote more than 380 scientific papers{{AcademicSearch|54889627|access-date=14 March 2014}} and was the author of "X-Ray Analysis and the Structure of Organic Molecules" (Cornell University Press, 1979; Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Basel, 1995), and "Reflections on Symmetry in Chemistry...and Elsewhere" (with Edgar Heilbronner, Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Basel, 1993). He was Co-Editor (with J. A. Ibers) of "Perspectives in Structural Chemistry", John Wiley and Sons, Vols. 1–4 (1967– 1971) and (with H.-B. Bürgi) of the two-volume "Structure Correlation", Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, 1994.

Death

Dunitz died on 12 September 2021, at the age of 98 after a short illness.{{cite web |title=Jack Dunitz deceased|url=https://chab.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/d-chab-news/2021/09/jack-dunitz-deceased.html|website=ETH Zürich |access-date=16 September 2021|date=13 September 2021}}

References

External links

[https://chab.ethz.ch/das-departement/personen/emeriti/emeriti-homepages/jack-dunitz.html Prof. Dr. Jack Dunitz] (CV in english), ETH Zurich, Departement Chemie und Angewandte Biowissenschaften
{{HLS|44498|Jack D. Dunitz|author=A.S. Dreiding|date=21 July 2004}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20120922094706/http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/coll/dunitz/biographicalnote.html Jack Dunitz Papers, 1927–2009, Oregon State Univ. Library]

Category:1923 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Bijvoet Medal recipients

Category:British chemists

Category:Academic staff of ETH Zurich

Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences

Category:Jewish chemists

Category:Jewish British scientists

Category:Members of Academia Europaea

Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society