Ian Fleming (born 1935) is an English organic chemist, and an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and an emeritus fellow of

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. He was the first to determine the full structure of

chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...

(in 1967) and was involved in the development of the

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors **Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organi ...

cyanocobalamin Cyanocobalamin is a form of Vitamin B12, vitamin used to treat and prevent vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin deficiency except in the presence of cyanide toxicity. The deficiency may occur in pernicious anemia, following gastrectomy, surgical r ...

Robert Burns Woodward Robert Burns Woodward (April 10, 1917 – July 8, 1979) was an American organic chemist. He is considered by many to be the preeminent synthetic organic chemist of the twentieth century, having made many key contributions to the subject, esp ...

. He has made major contributions to the use of

organosilicon Organosilicon chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds containing carbon–silicon bonds, to which they are called organosilicon compounds. Most organosilicon compounds are similar to the ordinary organic compounds, being colourless, f ...

compounds for stereospecific syntheses; reactions which have found application in the synthesis of natural compounds. He is also a prolific author, and has written a number of textbooks, encyclopedia chapters and influential review articles.

Life and research

Ian Fleming was born August 4, 1935, in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and grew up in

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1959 and a Ph.D. in 1962, both from

. His post-doctoral studies were done at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with R.B. Woodward on the synthesis of vitamin B₁₂. He has made advances in the topic of

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 ...

, developing new synthetic reactions. He has also pioneered the applications of

chemistry for organic synthesis, especially for the production of

chiral Chirality () is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek language, Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is dist ...

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

s, and synthesized the highly stable 8-cycloheptatrienylheptafulvenyl

carbocation Carbocation is a general term for ions with a positively charged carbon atom. In the present-day definition given by the IUPAC, a carbocation is any even-electron cation with significant partial positive charge on a carbon atom. They are further ...

. Prof. Fleming has an extensive list of over 200 scientific publications, including major contributions to the chemical encyclopedia "Comprehensive Organic Chemistry", and many influential review articles. He has also authored popular undergraduate textbooks on

spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectrosc ...

methods of structure determination, organic synthesis, and applications of

frontier molecular orbital theory In chemistry, frontier molecular orbital theory is an application of molecular orbital theory describing HOMO and LUMO, HOMO–LUMO interactions. History In 1952, Kenichi Fukui published a paper in the ''Journal of Chemical Physics'' titled "A m ...

to problems in organic chemistry.

Awards and prizes

*1981 Tilden lectureship of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

*1983 Prize for Organic Synthesis *1993 Elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

References

External links

Biographical note, Chemistry Department Lectures, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
* Article on Stereochemical Control in Organic Synthesis with biographical note
Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Ian English chemists 1935 births Harvard University alumni People from Stourbridge Living people Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry