Rajendra Rathore (12 December 1961 – 16 February 2018) was an organic chemist and professor at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, Wisconsin as Pfletschinger-Habermann professor of organic chemistry. He made important contributions in the area of

supramolecular chemistry Supramolecular chemistry refers to the branch of chemistry concerning Chemical species, chemical systems composed of a integer, discrete number of molecules. The strength of the forces responsible for spatial organization of the system range from w ...

, synthesis of novel electro-active molecules, and drug discovery. Rathore died on 16 February 2018, after complications from chronic pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Education

Rathore received his M.Sc. from the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by ...

in 1986, under the mentorship of

S. Chandrasekaran S. Chandrasekaran is a Singaporean contemporary artist known for his pioneering work in performance art in 1980s Singapore. He has held executive positions as Head of School at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of Arts. He ob ...

. He earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in London, Canada in 1990. He was a post-doctoral research associate and then a visiting assistant professor during 1992–2000 at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

under the supervision of

Jay Kochi Jay Kazuo Kochi (高知和夫, ''Kōchi Kazuo'', 1927–2008) was an American physical organometallic chemist who held lectureship at Harvard University, and faculty positions at Case Institute of Technology, 1962–1969, (now Case Western Reser ...

. Rajendra Rathore joined the faculty at Marquette University in 2000.

Research

Rathore was the Pfletschinger-Habermann Professor of Organic Chemistry at Marquette University. He was also nominated for the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences Scholar of the Year for 2017–2018, in recognition of outstanding scholarly contributions over the past three years, which he was awarded and received posthumously. Rathore made key contributions to the areas of organic supramolecular and materials chemistry. His interests focused in rational design and synthesis of novel electro-active molecules with applications in molecular recognition, photovoltaics, molecular electronics, and drug discovery. In particular, Rathore was well known for his contributions to studies of the Scholl reaction mechanism, syntheses of cofacially arrayed polyfluorenes, and applications of nitric oxide complexes with aromatic donors. His recent work was focused on elucidating the application of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) in the rational design of novel charge-transfer materials.

Synthesis of pillarene

In 1995 Rathore and Kochi reported a synthetic procedure to produce various diarylmethanes from their corresponding benzyl methyl ethers. They showed that transformation of ''bis''(methoxymethyl)-''p''-hydroquinone ether yields corresponding diarylmethane and a polymeric-like material. A reanalysis of this polymeric material showed that it consisted mainly from

pillararene Pillararenes are macrocycles composed of hydroquinone or dialkoxybenzene units (5 to 10) linked in the Para isomer, para position by methylene bridges. They are structurally similar to the cucurbiturils and calixarenes that play an important part i ...

. A full characterization of pillararene was first reported in 2008 by Tomoki Ogoshi et al.

Personal life

Rajendra Rathore was born in Kannauj, India in 1961. In college in Kanpur, India, he met his wife, Rajni. They had two girls. In October 2018, Marquette University held the Rajendra Rathore Memorial Symposium, where friends and colleagues of Rathore spoke about their research and Rathore's influence on their science and lives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathore, Rajendra 1961 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Indian chemists Indian expatriate academics in the United States Marquette University faculty IIT Kanpur alumni University of Western Ontario alumni 21st-century Indian chemists Deaths from sarcoidosis