John E. McMurry
{{Short description|American chemist (born 1942)}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = John McMurry
|image =
|image_size =
|caption = John McMurry
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|7|27}}
|birth_place = New York City, United States
|residence =
|death_date =
|death_place =
|field =
|work_institution = University of California, Santa Cruz,
Cornell University
|alma_mater = Harvard University A.B. 1964
Columbia University Ph.D. 1967
|doctoral_advisor = Gilbert Stork
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = McMurry reaction
|prizes =
|footnotes =
}}
John E. McMurry (born July 27, 1942, in New York City) is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University. He received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1964 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1967 working with Gilbert Stork. Following completion of his Ph.D., he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1967 and moved to Cornell University in 1980.
Contributions
The author of more than 100 research papers, McMurry is best known scientifically for his development of the McMurry reaction, in which two molecules of ketone or aldehyde are coupled to give an alkene when treated with titanium(III) chloride and a reducing agent such as Zn(Cu).{{cite book|doi=10.1002/047084289X.rt125|chapter=Titanium(IV) Chloride-Zinc|title=Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis|year=2001|last1=Richards|first1=Ian C.|isbn=0471936235}} The reaction has been widely used by the chemical community in the laboratory synthesis of many complex organic molecules and by the pharmaceutical industry in the commercial synthesis of several drugs.{{cn|date=August 2022}} McMurry was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985 and received a Max Planck Society Research Award in 1991.{{cite web |url=https://openstax.org/books/organic-chemistry/pages/dedication-and-preface |title=Organic Chemistry: Dedication and Preface |last=McMurry |first=John |location=Houston, Texas |website=OpenStax.org |date=9 January 2024 |access-date=23 June 2024 }}
In addition to his scientific work, McMurry is the author of 45 undergraduate chemistry textbooks that have been translated into 12 languages and used throughout the world. McMurry's most popular textbook Organic Chemistry was first printed in 1984. In 2022, he sold the rights for the book to OpenStax making it free for the user.{{cite news |last1=Knox |first1=Liam |title=Popular chemistry textbook's new edition will be free |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/11/popular-chemistry-textbooks-new-edition-will-be-free |access-date=13 August 2022 |work=Inside Higher Ed |date=August 11, 2022 |language=en}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/best-selling-chemistry-textbook-is-now-free/4016120.article |title=Best-selling organic chemistry textbook becomes open access |last=Chawla |first=Dalmeet Singh |date=23 August 2022 |magazine=Chemistry World |access-date=23 June 2024 }} Among his other texts are:
- Organic Chemistry with Biological Applications (3rd edition)McMurry, J. E. (2015). {{ISBN|9781285842912}}
- Chemistry (8th edition) McMurry, J. E., Fay, R. C., Robinson, J. K. (2019). {{ISBN|9780321943170}}
- General Chemistry, Atoms First (2nd edition) McMurry, J. E., Fay, R. C. (2014). {{ISBN|9780321809261}}
- Fundamentals of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (8th edition) McMurry, J. E., Ballantine, D. S., Hoeger, C.A., Peterson, V. E. (2017). {{ISBN|9780134015187}}
- The Organic Chemistry of Biological Pathways (2nd edition) McMurry, J. E., Begley, T. P. (2016). {{ISBN|9781936221561}}
References
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Category:Cornell University faculty
Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty
Category:21st-century American chemists
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:American textbook writers