William G. Dauben
University of California, Berkeley
November 6, 1919 - January 1, 1997
|
Scientific Discipline: Chemistry Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1970)
|
Chemist William G. Dauben revolutionized the use of conformational analysis to study organic reactions. This led to the development of new methods for alkane production, as well as a better understanding of how stereochemistry and conformational structures affected the products of an organic reaction. He studied the biogenesis of terpenes, fatty acids, and steroids, and became one of the first chemists to determine the role of squalene in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Dauben also examined the photochemical transformations of organic compounds, which led to current knowledge of the photochemistry of dienes (hydrocarbons with two double carbon bonds) and their use in the synthesis of alicyclic, or aliphatic and ringed, compounds. Dauben also developed new techniques, using high pressure as a catalyst, to isolate cantharidin, the active chemical compound of the Spanish fly that was thought to be a legendary aphrodisiac. These techniques not only laid the foundation for the procedures of modern organic extraction reactions, but they established cantharidin as a viable topical medication for the treatment of warts despite the chemical’s toxicity.
Dauben earned his B.A. degree from Ohio State University in 1941 and his A.M. degree in 1942 and Ph.D. in 1944 from Harvard University. A year after graduating from Harvard, he became an instructor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He stayed on the faculty for the remainder of his career, becoming a full professor of chemistry in 1957. He served as the editor-in-chief of Organic Reactions from 1967 to 1983. Dauben was also a member of the Medicinal Chemistry Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, the Chemistry Panel for the National Science Foundation, the Assembly of Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the National Research Council, and of the U.S. Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. He was the recipient of several awards which included the California Section Award in 1959 and the Ernest Guenther Award in 1973, both from the American Chemical Society.
