Robert H. Grubbs
| Robert H. Grubbs | |
|---|---|
AIC Gold Medal recipient, 2010
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| Born |
February 27, 1942 Marshall County, Kentucky, United States |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Organic chemistry |
| Institutions | California Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater |
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| Doctoral students | Melanie Sanford |
| Known for | Catalysts for olefin metathesis in organic synthesis |
| Notable awards |
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| Spouse | Helen O'Kane-Grubbs |
Robert Howard Grubbs (born February 27, 1942) is an American chemist and the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. He was a co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on olefin metathesis. He is a co-founder of Materia, a startup to produce catalysts.
Grubbs was born on February 27, 1942, on a farm in Marshall County, Kentucky, midway between Possum Trot and Calvert City. His parents were Howard and Faye Grubbs. Faye Grubbs was a schoolteacher. After serving in World War II, the family moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where Howard Grubbs trained as a diesel mechanic, and Robert Grubbs attended Paducah Tilghman High School.
At the University of Florida, Robert Grubbs initially intended to study agriculture. However, he was convinced by professor Merle A. Battiste to switch to organic chemistry. Working with Battiste, Grubbs became interested in how chemical reactions occur. He received his B.S. in 1963 and M.S. in 1965 from the University of Florida.
Next, Grubbs attended Columbia University, where he worked with Ronald Breslow on the antiaromaticity of cyclobutadiene. This work aroused his interest in metals and organometallic compounds which contain carbon-metal bonds. Grubbs received his Ph.D. in 1968.
Grubbs worked with James Collman at Stanford University as a National Institutes of Health fellow during 1968–1969. With Collman, he began to systematically investigate catalytic processes in organometallic chemistry, a relatively new area of research.
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