William Standish Knowles (1917-2012) was an accomplished American chemist who made significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry, particularly in the area of asymmetric synthesis. He is best known for his Nobel Prize-winning work on chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions.
Born on June 1, 1917, in Taunton, Massachusetts, Knowles attended Harvard University where he earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1939. After completing his doctoral studies at Columbia University in 1942, he joined the Monsanto Chemical Company (now known as the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc.), where he spent nearly four decades conducting groundbreaking research.
Knowles's revolutionary work focused on developing efficient methods for synthesizing chiral compounds, which are molecules that exist in two mirror-image forms. His groundbreaking discovery came in 1968 when he developed a class of compounds called chiral transition metal catalysts. These catalysts effectively enabled asymmetric hydrogenation reactions, allowing the production of pharmaceutically important chiral compounds in a highly efficient and environmentally friendly manner.
For this pioneering research, Knowles was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001, jointly shared with Ryoji Noyori and K. Barry Sharpless. His discoveries not only had a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry but also opened up new possibilities for the synthesis of chirally pure drugs and other important compounds.
Apart from his Nobel Prize, Knowles also received numerous other prestigious awards and honors throughout his career, including the National Medal of Science in 1998. He retired from Monsanto in 1986 and continued to consult and contribute to the field of chemistry until his passing on June 13, 2012.
