CHEMIST

Richard F. Heck

1931 - 2015

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Richard Frederick Heck (August 15, 1931 – October 9, 2015) was an American chemist noted for the discovery and development of the Heck reaction, which uses palladium to catalyze organic chemical reactions that couple aryl halides with alkenes. The analgesic naproxen is an example of a compound that is prepared industrially using the Heck reaction. For his work in palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions and organic synthesis, Heck was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with the Japanese chemists Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Richard F. Heck is the 171st most popular chemist (up from 180th in 2019), the 877th most popular biography from United States (up from 1,122nd in 2019) and the 39th most popular American Chemist.

Richard F. Heck is most famous for his work on palladium-catalyzed cross coupling reactions, which he developed in the early 1980s.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Richard F. Heck ranks 171 out of 602. Before him are Frederick Gowland Hopkins, Willard Libby, John E. Walker, Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, Robert Bruce Merrifield, and Derek Barton. After him are Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, Akira Suzuki, William Standish Knowles, Alan J. Heeger, Max Perutz, and Robert Curl.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1931, Richard F. Heck ranks 45. Before him are Rupert Murdoch, James Cronin, David Lee, Larry Hagman, Aldo Rossi, and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. After him are Guy Debord, Khieu Samphan, John Gavin, John le Carré, Nawal El Saadawi, and Kakuichi Mimura. Among people deceased in 2015, Richard F. Heck ranks 33. Before him are Kenan Evren, Val Logsdon Fitch, Ulrich Beck, Khaled al-Asaad, Yoichiro Nambu, and Manoel de Oliveira. After him are Otto Carius, Tariq Aziz, Maya Plisetskaya, Zito, Eduardo Galeano, and Alcides Ghiggia.

Others Born in 1931

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Richard F. Heck ranks 877 out of 20,380. Before him are Tim Robbins (1958), Robert Bruce Merrifield (1921), Bill Murray (1950), Jill Biden (1951), J. D. Tippit (1924), and Robert Kardashian (1944). After him are Charles Bolden (1946), Paul Simon (1941), Richard F. Gordon Jr. (1929), Richard Meier (1934), Robert R. Livingston (1746), and Herbert Spencer Gasser (1888).

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Among CHEMISTS In United States

Among chemists born in United States, Richard F. Heck ranks 39. Before him are Glenn T. Seaborg (1912), Marshall Warren Nirenberg (1927), Robert W. Holley (1922), Paul D. Boyer (1918), Willard Libby (1908), and Robert Bruce Merrifield (1921). After him are William Standish Knowles (1917), Alan J. Heeger (1936), Robert Curl (1933), Thomas A. Steitz (1940), Richard R. Schrock (1945), and Julius Axelrod (1912).

American born Chemists

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