Odd Hassel

Odd Hassel was a Norwegian physical chemist who shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for establishing conformational analysis and studying molecular structures.

Derek Barton: A British chemist who shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing conformational analysis. Barton shared Hassel’s Nobel Prize for complementary work on molecular conformations.
Conformational analysis: The study of molecular shapes produced by rotation around single bonds and their effects on properties and reactions. Hassel’s research helped establish this way of explaining molecular structure and behavior.
Munich: A city in southern Germany and the capital of Bavaria. Hassel studied chemistry at the University of Munich after beginning his university education in Oslo.
Molecular stereochemistry: The study of the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in molecules and its effects on chemical behavior. Hassel’s work made three-dimensional molecular shape central to structural chemistry.
Victor Goldschmidt: A Norwegian mineralogist and geochemist who founded a major research tradition in Norwegian chemistry. Goldschmidt’s scientific institute helped shape the research environment in which Hassel trained.
Cyclohexane: A six-carbon cyclic molecule whose ring adopts several three-dimensional conformations. Hassel used cyclohexane derivatives to investigate how molecular shape affects structure.
University of Berlin: A university established in Berlin in 1810, now known as Humboldt University of Berlin. Hassel completed doctoral research in Berlin before returning to Norway.
Steric hindrance: The slowing or prevention of a chemical reaction because atoms or groups occupy space and obstruct one another. Conformational analysis helps explain how crowded molecular arrangements affect reactions.
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: A Norwegian scholarly society founded in 1857 to advance scientific and humanistic research. Hassel’s career developed within Norway’s academic institutions and scientific community.
Chair conformation: The most stable conformation of an unsubstituted cyclohexane ring, with carbon atoms alternating above and below a plane. Hassel’s structural studies helped clarify the three-dimensional forms of cyclohexane rings.

Linked from 1 page