Negishi,
Ei-ichi,
1935–2021, Japanese chemist, b. Changchum, China, Univ. of Tokyo
(B.Eng., 1958), Univ. of Pennsylvania (Ph.D., 1963). In 1966 he joined the
faculty at Purdue Univ., and he spent most of his career there, retiring in
2019; from 1972-79 he was a professor at Syracuse Univ. Negishi was awarded
the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Richard Heck and Akira Suzuki for their research during the
1960s and '70s on palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions in organic
synthesis. Their work, carried out independently, laid the foundation for
the synthesis of chemicals for applications in such diverse areas as
pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, and advanced technological
materials. Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling also led to breakthroughs in
DNA sequencing. Negishi developed a modification of Heck's technique in
1977. Negishi received the Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito (2010) and
was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2014).
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