William D. Emmons
{{Short description|American chemist}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = William D. Emmons
|image =
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|caption = William D. Emmons
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|11|18}}
|birth_place = Minnesota
|residence =
|nationality = American
|death_date = {{death date and age|2001|12|8|1924|11|18}}
|death_place =
|field =
|work_institution = Rohm and Haas
|alma_mater = University of Minnesota
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction
|prizes =
|religion =
|footnotes =
}}William D. Emmons (November 18, 1924 – December 8, 2001) was an American chemist and published with William S. Wadsworth a modification to the Wittig-Horner reaction using phosphonate-stabilized carbanions, now called the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction in his honor.
Life
Emmons, a native of Minnesota, studied at the University of MinnesotaB.Sc. degree. After serving in World War 2 as a meteorologist in the Pacific Theater, he attended graduate school at the University of Illinois, where he received a PhD. in 1951 (research advisor R. C. Fuson). He avoided being drafted for the Korean War by working for the Redstone Arsenal Research of Rohm and Haas. In 1986, his innovations were rewarded with the first Roy W. Tess Award for Coatings Science awarded by the Polymeric Materials, Science, and Engineering Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). He retired from Rohm and Haas in 1989.
Work
In work undertaken in collaboration with Arthur F. Ferris, Emmons reported that in situ generated trifluoroperacetic acid was capable of oxidising aniline to nitrobenzene,{{cite journal|title = Oxidation Reactions with Pertrifluoroacetic Acid|first1 = William D.|last1 = Emmons|first2 = Arthur F.|last2 = Ferris|authorlink1 = William D. Emmons|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1953|volume = 75|issue = 18|pages = 4623–4624|doi = 10.1021/ja01114a539}}{{cite journal|title = Peroxytrifluoroacetic Acid. II. The Oxidation of Anilines to Nitrobenzenes|first = William D.|last = Emmons|authorlink = William D. Emmons|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1954|volume = 76|issue = 13|pages = 3470–3472|doi = 10.1021/ja01642a030}} an observation which pioneered the applications of this peroxy acid as an oxidising agent in organic chemistry.{{cite book|pages = 242–243|chapter = Functional Compounds Containing Oxygen, Sulphur or Nitrogen and their Derivatives|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XE5VHh7uL_0C&pg=PA242|title = Fluorine in Organic Chemistry|first = Richard D.|last = Chambers|publisher = CRC Press|year = 2004|isbn = 9780849317903}} Emmons went on to discuss the preparation of trifluoroperacetic acid and numerous applications of the new reagent, including: oxidation of nitrosamines to nitramines;{{cite journal|title = Peroxytrifluoroacetic Acid. I. The Oxidation of Nitrosamines to Nitramines|first = William D.|last = Emmons|authorlink = William D. Emmons|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1954|volume = 76|issue = 13|pages = 3468–3470|doi = 10.1021/ja01642a029}} the Baeyer–Villiger oxidations of ketones to esters;{{cite journal|title = Peroxytrifluoroacetic Acid. V. The Oxidation of Ketones to Esters|first1 = William D.|last1 = Emmons|authorlink1 = William D. Emmons|first2 = George B.|last2 = Lucas|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1955|volume = 77|issue = 8|pages = 2287–2288|doi = 10.1021/ja01613a077}} and the conversion of alkenes to epoxides (in the presence of a buffer){{cite journal|title = Peroxytrifluoroacetic Acid. IV. The Epoxidation of Olefins|first1 = William D.|last1 = Emmons|authorlink1 = William D. Emmons|first2 = Angelo S.|last2 = Pagano|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1955|volume = 77|issue = 1|pages = 89–92|doi = 10.1021/ja01606a029}} or to glycols (without the buffer).{{cite journal|title = Peroxytrifluoroacetic Acid. III. The Hydroxylation of Olefins|authorlink1 = William D. Emmons|first1 = William D.|last1 = Emmons|first2 = Angelo S.|last2 = Pagano|first3 = Jeremiah P.|last3 = Freeman|journal = J. Am. Chem. Soc.|year = 1954|volume = 76|issue = 13|pages = 3472–3474|doi = 10.1021/ja01642a031}}
He was credited with several breakthrough innovations, and was the author of more than
150 patents and papers during his 38-year career according to Rohm and Haasand was also prompted development of new urethane rheology modifiers that contributed to significant advances in the performance of water-based acrylic paint and early research on a variety of opaque polymers, including Rohm and Haas's Hollow Sphere Polymer technology.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite journal|url = http://www.orgsyn.org/content/pdfs/obits/emmons.pdf|title = William D. Emmons: November 18, 1924 - December 8, 2001|first = Jeremiah P.|last = Freeman|journal = Org. Synth.|volume = 80|pages = xxvii-xxix|date = November 14, 2002}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmons, William D.}}
Category:University of Minnesota alumni
Category:20th-century American chemists
Category:American military personnel of World War II
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