John Ulric Nef (née Johann Ulrich Nef; June 14, 1862 – August 13, 1915) was a Swiss-born American chemist and the discoverer of the

Nef reaction In organic chemistry, the Nef reaction is an organic reaction describing the acid hydrolysis of a salt of a primary or secondary nitroalkane () to an aldehyde () or a ketone () and nitrous oxide (). The reaction has been the subject of several ...

and

Nef synthesis In organic chemistry, Nef synthesis is the addition of sodium acetylides to aldehydes and ketones to yield propargyl alcohols. It is named for John Ulric Nef (chemist), John Ulric Nef, who discovered the reaction in 1899. : This process is often ...

. He was a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

and the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Life

His parents emigrated from Switzerland to the United States, where Nef studied chemistry 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 ...

until 1884. Upon graduation, he joined

Adolf von Baeyer Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo dye, indigo and developed a Von Baeyer nomenclature, nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended a ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where he received his Ph.D. in 1887. He was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 1887 till 1889 and at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

from 1889 till 1892. In 1892 Nef joined the newly formed

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

as professor of chemistry, where he spent the rest of his academic career. He died in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

on August 13, 1915. His son John Ulric Nef (1899–1988) became a professor of economic history and published several books.

Work

The discovery of the

and the papers about divalent carbon (

carbene In organic chemistry, a carbene is a molecule containing a neutral carbon atom with a Valence (chemistry), valence of two and two unshared valence electrons. The general formula is or where the R represents substituents or hydrogen atoms. Th ...

s) were his major achievements.

References

Biographical Note from the University of ChicagoPicture of Nef at MSU

External links

* Swiss emigrants to the United States Harvard College alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Purdue University faculty Clark University faculty University of Chicago faculty 1862 births 1915 deaths American chemists Organic chemists Members of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala {{US-chemist-stub

Life

Work

See also

References

External links