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Richard F. Heck

Richard F. Heck
Richard F. Heck2010.jpg
Heck in 2010
Born Richard Frederick Heck
(1931-08-15)August 15, 1931
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died October 10, 2015(2015-10-10) (aged 84)
Manila, Philippines
Residence Quezon City, Philippines
Nationality American
Fields Chemistry
Institutions University of Delaware
Hercules
ETH Zurich
De La Salle University
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles
Doctoral advisor Saul Winstein
Known for Heck reaction
Notable awards Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2010)
Spouse Socorro Nardo-Heck (died 2012)

Richard Frederick Heck (August 15, 1931 – October 10, 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.

Heck was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1931. He earned his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry in 1954 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), working under the supervision of Dr. Saul Winstein. After two periods of postdoctoral research at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and then back at UCLA, Heck took a position with the Hercules Corporation in Wilmington, Delaware in 1957. After productive research work at Hercules, he was hired by the University of Delaware's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1971. Heck was a professor of chemistry at the University of Delaware. In 2012, he was appointed by De La Salle University in Manila as adjunct professor in its chemistry department.


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