Harry Stone Mosher (August 31, 1915 – March 2, 2001) was an American chemist and the discoverer of

Mosher's acid Mosher's acid, or α-methoxy-α-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid (MTPA) is a carboxylic acid which was first used by Harry Stone Mosher as a chiral derivatizing agent. It is a chiral molecule, consisting of ''R'' and ''S'' enantiomers. Applicati ...

Early life

Mosher attended

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in chemistry in 1937. He went on to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, where he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1938. He then returned to Willamette to teach for one year. In 1939, he continued his graduate work at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

under the mentorship of Frank C. Whitmore, a renowned

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

. In 1942, Mosher completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in organic chemistry. He remained at Pennsylvania State as an assistant professor, supervising research on synthetic anti-malarial drugs for the National Research Council and the production of

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

with the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

. In 1944, Mosher married Carol Walker, a fellow chemistry graduate student at the university. Three years later, Mosher accepted an assistant professorship at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the Department of Chemistry, and he and his wife moved to California for the position. That same year his wife Carol joined the staff of the

Stanford Research Institute SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

, later becoming senior organic chemist.

Research contributions

While at Stanford, Mosher taught organic chemistry and conducted research in natural products chemistry and

stereochemistry Stereochemistry, a subdiscipline of chemistry, studies the spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules and their manipulation. The study of stereochemistry focuses on the relationships between stereoisomers, which are defined ...

. He and his graduate student Melanchton Brown identified a deadly toxin produced by the

California newt The California newt or orange-bellied newt (''Taricha torosa''), is a species of newt endemic to California, in the Western United States. Its adult length can range from . Its skin produces the potent toxin tetrodotoxin. Subspecies ''Taricha ...

living in Stanford's

Lake Lagunita Lake Lagunita, informally referred to as Lake Lag, is an artificial dry lake in Stanford University, California, located on the western side of the Stanford campus near the Lagunita residences. It was created in to provide irrigation for Palo Alt ...

, calling it tarichatoxin. They soon discovered that it was the same toxin produced by the

puffer fish Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, ...

, used in a rare type of

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

that if prepared incorrectly could paralyze and kill human diners. Mosher determined the structure of the toxin, which is known as

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an Order (biology), order that includes Tetraodontidae, pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Alt ...

. Mosher worked on many other natural products including both plant pigments and toxic substances. Mosher also invented the "Mosher reagent" or

, which is used to measure the degree of left- or right-handedness in organic molecules.

Awards and honors

Mosher received an

honorary doctoral degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from Willamette University. Harry Mosher served as chair of the California section of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

in 1955 and on the ACS National Council, both elected positions. In 1978, Mosher received the Abraham Ottenberg Service Award from the ACS. Two years later, the ACS established the Harry and Carol Mosher Award to advance the field of chemistry.

Later life

Mosher retired from Stanford in 1981. He spent his later life engaged in tennis and skiing, and lunched regularly with his friends at the Rathskeller in the Stanford Faculty Club. He died in 2001, and was survived by his wife, their three children, and five grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosher, Harry Stone 1915 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American chemists People from Salem, Oregon People from Stanford, California